Healthiest Cereal Guide
Written by:
Suzanne Weaver-Goss

Approximately 283 million Americans eat cold cereal every day. If you’re one of them, you probably want to find the healthiest brand.
We hope this guide will help you enjoy this convenient breakfast food without compromising you health.

1. Ezekiel 4:9 / 2. Cascadian Farms Purely O’s / 3. Lovebird / 4. Arrowhead Mills / 5. One Degree Brown Rice Crips
As a child of the 50’s, most mornings I ate cold cereal for breakfast. We could help ourselves and my mom was free to do other chores. My father thought boxed cereal was great because, as a child of the Depression era, he had to eat porridge or oatmeal every day. He often commented how fortunate we were to have tasty cereal! During this time, cereals blossomed into the sweet treat we know today.
Back then, most cereal brands were named “Sugar This” or “Sugar That.” Kellogg Sugar Smacks were a favorite in my childhood home, and they have the distinction of having the most sugar by weight of any cereal on the market, then or now. Fifty-six percent of the cereal was sugar!
When we ran out of cold cereal, we took white bread, sprinkled sugar on it, and poured milk over it.
When I had my children in the 1980’s, I had just rejected eating any sugar (Sugar Blues was popular back then). Like my own father, my kids grew up eating porridge. I’d cook rice, millet, oats, and other whole grains with soy milk adding a little honey or maple syrup for sweetness.
There were a few cereal brands that didn’t have added sugar but they were hard to find–Erewhon’s Crispy Brown Rice, Oatios, and Kellogg’s Nutri Grain cereal were our three favorites, but the they all have since been discontinued! Today, sugar has crept back into cold cereals–even the organic, “healthy” ones.
How to Find Healthiest Cereal
Just like everything else, label-reading is important when shopping for the healthiest cereal. When categorizing the brands for this guide, we considered:
- Grams of sugar. We looked for ones with less than five. (We recommend that children consume less than a total of 25 grams of sugar per day.)
- Type of sugar. We gave preference to brands that use healthier sugars like coconut, maple, or honey.
- Type of fat. Vegetable oils have no reason to be in cereals except for granola. If a cereal contains oil, we looked for high quality oils like coconut. Sunflower oil is ubiquitous and not healthful so we eliminated the cereals that contained that from our Good Stuff category.
- Sugar to fiber/protein ratio. We scanned nutritional panels to find those cereals where the combined grams of fiber and protein exceed the grams of sugar. Our top pick, Ezekial’s Original, has just 1 gram of sugar, and with 8 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, the ratio is 1:14.
- Number of ingredients. When it comes to cereal, fewer ingredients is usually better, although there are some exceptions to this.
- Quality of ingredients. We dinged brands for fillers like “modified corn starch,” and gave preference to brands that contain all or mostly organic ingredients.
- Rice. You’ve probably heard that rice, and particularly brown rice, is often contaminated with arsenic. Consider eating rice cereal in moderation, especially if there is a lot of other rice in your diet.
What cereal is the healthiest to eat?
The bottom line: Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Crunchy Cereal packs the most nutritional bang per spoonful.
(Read more about this brand under Good Stuff below.)
A Problem with “Healthy” Cereal: Extruded Grains
Our Healthy Baby Puffs Guide offers details on what’s wrong with pretty much all boxed cold cereals, which is the process of extrusion. The bottom line is this: extrusion–mixing grains with water and processing that paste through a special device (plus high heat) to produce a desired shape–compromises the integrity of the grains’ nutrients, breaks the bonds of fatty acids, inactivates enzymes, and increases the glycemic index of the food.
This is one reason that really no cold cereal can be considered truly a whole natural food when compared to, say, a bowl of oatmeal.
Sugar Matters: Healthier Cereal Sweeteners
Cane sugar’s glycemic index is 68, so we consider this the least healthful sweetener in cereal. Here are some better options.
- Coconut sugar has a glycemic index of 35. Coconut sugar retains many nutrients found in the coconut palm — including iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium. Coconut sugar also contains the soluble fiber inulin, which is linked to a lower risk of blood sugar spikes.
- Maple syrup has a glycemic index of 54. Maple syrup has a nutritional advantage over sugar because it does not contain any additives, and the processing allows it to retain its nutrients, including manganese, riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Maple syrup is rich in antioxidants and therefore has anti-inflammatory and prebiotic activity, so it may help support gut health.
- Honey has a glycemic index of 58. While honey comes with more calories, carbohydrates, and grams of sugar than white sugar does, it does have more nutrients and health properties to offer. It contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids.
Good Stuff
365 Organic Morning O’s
The Whole Foods brand of 0 cereal are definitely Good Stuff, with low sugar and a good amount of protein and fiber. The ingredients in this brand changed since the last time I wrote this guide. They’ve added wheat starch, but I’m not worried about that one.
Sugar: 2 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Ingredients: Organic Whole Grain Oat Flour, Organic Wheat Starch, Organic Cane Sugar, Sea Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Mixed Tocopherols (Added To Maintain Freshness).

Arrowhead Mills Amaranth Flakes
This one is sweetened with only apple juice. I also like that it packs a lot of whole grains.
Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 6 grams
Fiber: 4 grams
Ingredients: Organic Oat Flakes, Amaranth Flour, Organic Yellow Corn Flour, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate, Organic Oat Flour, Organic Brown Rice Flour, Organic Rye Flour, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and Vitamin E (To Preserve Freshness)

Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Bran Flakes
Like the above, this one is also sweetened with only apple juice concentrates. I like that it doesn’t contain rice.
Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Fiber: 6 grams
Ingredients: Organic Whole Oat Flour, Organic Oat Bran, Organic Apple or Pear Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt, Ascorbic Acid, Mixed Tocopherols (to preserve freshness).

Arrowhead Mills Organic Puffed Kamut
If you want the least possible ingredients in your breakfast cereal, this one is for you!
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Ingredients: Puffed Kamut

Barbara’s Organic Corn Flakes
Barbara’s Organic Corn Flakes is the best gluten-free cereal we could find, with a simple ingredient list and no white sugar.
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Ingredients: Organic Non-Gmo Corn, Organic Fruit Juice Concentrate (Pear Or Apple), Sea Salt.
Cascadian Farms Organic Purely O‘s
This is the best O cereal we reviewed, with whole grains and no white sugar.
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 4 grams
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats*, Whole Grain Barley*, Wheat Starch*, Malted Barley Extract*, Sea Salt, Oats*, Calcium Carbonate, Malted Barley*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farms Mixed Berry Cereal
This one is sweetened with only fruit. Because it is organic and on the low sugar side we made an exception for the sunflower oil. Note that this one contains rice.
Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 6 grams
Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat*, Rice*, Date Powder*, Sunflower Oil*, Coconut Oil*, Dried Blueberries*, Dried Strawberries*, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farms Vanilla Crisp Cereal
Another good option from Cascadian Farms, this variety is sweetened with date powder. Again, we wish they’d skip the sunflower oil and rice!
Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat*, Rice*, Date Powder*, Sunflower Oil*, Coconut Oil*, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Food for Life Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal
This is probably the healthiest cereal that comes in a box. It is made of sprouted organic grains and beans. The sweetener here comes from malted barley, which is made when the barley grain germinates. The consistency of this cereal is akin to Grapenuts, which I happen to love!
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 8 grams
Fiber: 6 grams
Ingredients: Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Millet, Organic Sprouted Whole Lentils, Organic Sprouted Whole Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Whole Spelt, Filtered Water, Sea Salt.

Lovebird Grain-Free Cereal
We are grateful to our readers for introducing us to this cereal! The unsweetened variety has a very simple ingredients list, and even the sweetened flavors rely on coconut sugar. If you follow a gluten-free or even Paleo-style diet, Lovebird is a great cereal choice. The unsweetened variety has only four ingredients.
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 1 gram
Fiber: 3 gram
Ingredients: Organic Cassava, Organic Coconut, Organic Coconut Oil, Sea Salt

Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes
These flakes are made with six ancient grains, including quinoa and millet, and are sweetened with honey. My grandson Wolfie says, “When I leaved the room to go to the bathroom and come back, they aren’t mushy!”
Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 7 grams
Ingredients: Organic KAMUT khorasan wheat flour, organic wheat bran, organic whole wheat meal, organic cane sugar, organic whole oat flour, organic spelt flour, organic barley flour, organic whole millet, organic barley malt extract, organic quinoa, sea salt, organic honey.

One Degree Brown Rice Crisps
We always recommend eating rice in moderation, but we do love that this rice cereal is sweetened with just coconut sugar.
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Ingredients: Organic sprouted whole grain brown rice, organic coconut sugar, unrefined salt, tocopherols (vitamin E).

One Degree Coconut Hibiscus Granola
This granola is lightly sweetened with coconut sugar and uses olive oil for the fat. Be sure to read the label of all of the One Degree granolas. Some are sweetened with white sugar and some have sunflower oil instead of olive oil.
Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Fats: 3 grams
Ingredients: sprouted gluten-free organic oats, organic coconut sugar, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic coconut flakes, organic hibiscus flower, unrefined salt, tocopherols (vitamin e).

Quinoa Queen Organic Unsweetened
I can’t say these taste very good, but they’ve just got the one ingredient! For those of you asking, “what cereal has the least amount of sugar?”, this is the one! purel
Sugar: 0 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 4 grams
Ingredients: 100% Organic Whole Premium Quinoa

Thrive Market Coconut Flakes
These organic flakes are made of mostly various forms of coconut.
Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Ingredients: coconut meat, coconut water & palm starch

Okay Stuff
Food for Life Ezekiel Original Flake Cereal
This one has a great ingredients list of organic and sprouted whole grains. It does have 7 grams of sugar, which is why we are calling it Okay Stuff.
Sugar: 7 grams
Protein: 8 grams
Fiber: 6 grams
Ingredients: organic sprouted wheat, organic sprouted barley, organic sprouted millet, organic sprouted soybeans, organic sprouted lentils, and organic sprouted brown rice.

Love Grown Power O’s
We like that this brand contains a beans blend and is low in sugar, but it’s not organic.
Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 6 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Ingredients: Bean blend (navy beans, lentils, garbanzo beans), brown rice flour, salt, vitamin E (to maintain freshnesss).

Magic Spoon
Magic Spoon is a processed cereal made especially for Keto diets. They are mimicking fruity cereals, cocoa cereals, and frosted cereals that are full of sugar and definitely not healthy. If you are looking for a Keto friendly cereal that has no sugar and is high in protein but is like more traditional unhealthy cereals, then this is the cereal for you. It has very little fiber, is not organic, and has sunflower oil, so I cannot call it Good Stuff.
Use code GIMMEMAGICSPOON for free shipping
Sugar: 0
Protein: 14 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Ingredients: Fruity flavor – Milk Protein Blend (Casein”, Whey Protein Concentrate*), Sweetener Blend (Allulose, Monk Fruit Extract), Oil Blend (High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Avocado Oil), Tapioca Starch, Inulin» (from Chicory Root and/or Agave), Natural Flavor, Salt, Turmeric Extract, Spirulina
Extract, Vegetable Juice” (for color).

Mom’s Best Toasted Wheatfuls Cereals
Most of the cereals of from this brand have 12 or 14 grams of sugar per serving. The Wheatfuls are the best bet from Mom’s Best, as they only contain wheat (but are not organic).
Sugar: 0
Protein: 7 grams
Fiber: 8 grams
Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat. Freshness preserved with Vitamin E
(mixed tocopherols).

Nature’s Path Heritage O’s
This brand claims 16 grams of whole grains, but the grains (wheat, barley, oat, quinoa, and millet) are all made from flour. We gave this brand extra points for the Eco-Pac bag, which means that it is using 66% less packaging than a cardboard cereal box.
Sugar: 3 grams + 3 added
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Ingredients: Organic whole oat flour, organic whole wheat meal, organic Kamut Khorasan wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic spelt flour, organic barley flour, organic barley malt extract, organic quinoa flour, organic millet flour, sea salt, organic honey.

Seven Sundays Oat Protein Cereal
We like that this includes upcycled oats, which are left over from oat milk production and upcycled corn, which is left over from the production of corn starch. This is only not Good Stuff because it isn’t organic.
Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Ingredients: Upcycled Oat Protein, Upcycled Non-GMO Corn, Cassava Starch, Maple Syrup, Coconut Oil, Apple Juice Concentrate, Apple Powder, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Sea Salt.
Code: GIMMETHEGOODSTUFF will get you 30% off your entire order on their website.

Three Wishes
One of our customers asked us to review this cereal. It is not organic so I hesitated to put in the Good Stuff category. On the other hand, the ingredients are clean: just chickpea, tapioca, pea protein, and salt.
Sugar: 0
Protein: 8 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Ingredients: Chickpea, Tapioca, Pea Protein, Salt

Are Cheerios actually healthy?
If you’re in a pinch–at a hotel buffet or similar situation–and have no organic, healthy cereal options, choose plain Corn Flakes or Cheerios. They are the best of the worst, for sure!

Bad Stuff
Any “frosted” cereals are Bad Stuff; for example, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats have have 11 grams of sugar (plus toxic BHT).
Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF BROWN RICE SYRUP, GELATIN, BHT FOR FRESHNESS. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: REDUCED IRON, FOLIC ACID.

Fruit Loops Marshmallows
There’s so much Bad Stuff here–modified food starch, corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and artificial flavors among other things.
Ingredients: Corn Flour Blend (Whole Grain Yellow Corn Flour, Degerminated Yellow Corn Flour), Sugar, Marshmallows (Sugar, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Natural Flavor, Gelatin, Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1), Wheat Flour, Whole Grain Oat Flour, Modified Food Starch, Contains 2% Or Less Of Vegetable Oil (Hydrogenated Coconut, Soybean And/Or Cottonseed Oil), Oat Fiber, Maltodextrin, Salt, Soluble Corn Fiber, Natural Flavor, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Yellow 6, Bht For Freshness. Vitamins And Minerals: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Reduced Iron, Niacinamide, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

General Mills Cheerios
Although these have a simple ingredient list of whole grain oats, corn starch, sugar, salt, and vitamins, Cheerio’s are not organic and contain tri-potassium phosphate. Still, the ingredients in Cheerios are more healthful than most other conventional cereals.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Corn Starch, Sugar, Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Iron and Zinc (mineral nutrients), Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), A B Vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin A (palmitate), Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), A B Vitamin (folic acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.

General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios
These contain everything you’ll find in regular Cheerios plus rice bran oil, canola oil, and brown sugar syrup. They also pack 9 grams sugar per serving.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Corn Starch, Honey, Brown Sugar Syrup, Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate, Canola and/or Sunflower Oil, Natural Almond Flavor. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), Iron and Zinc (mineral nutrients), A B Vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), Vitamin A (palmitate), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), A B Vitamin (folic acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes
These aren’t organic, but they low in sugars with just 3 grams per serving. Unfortunately, these flakes contain the toxic preservative BHT.
Ingredients: Milled Corn, Sugar, Malt Flavor, Contains 2% Or Less Of Salt. Vitamins And Minerals: Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Niacinamide, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

Kelloggs Rice Krispies
These contain only rice, sugar, salt, and malt flavor. In addition to not being organic, there is still too much sugar here for us to call them Okay Stuff.
Ingredients: Rice, Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of Salt, Malt Flavor. Vitamins And Minerals: Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Niacinamide, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

Sneaky Stuff
Annie’s Homegrown (All Varieties)
These all contain too much sugar to be considered Good Stuff. Most varieties have up to 12 grams of added sugar!
Ingredients in Cocoa Bunnies: Whole grain oats, whole grain cornmeal, cane sugar, white rice flour, cocoa powder, tapioca syrup, invert cane syrup, expeller-pressed sunflower oil, sea salt, calcium phosphate, baking soda, natural flavor.

Arrowhead Mills Maple Buckwheat Flakes
Even though this is organic and gluten-free, it has far too much sugar to be considered Good Stuff (14 grams!). We like that it uses maple and honey–but unfortunately it also contains cane sugar. (Note: In searching for a healthy gluten free cereal, I noticed that they often have more sugar content than other categories.)
Ingredients: Organic Whole Grain Buckwheat Grits, Organic Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Whole Grain Buckwheat Flour, Organic Maple Syrup, Sea Salt, Organic Honey, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and Natural Vitamin E (to Preserve Freshness).

Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice
These are not made with organic grains. The same goes for their puffed corn and puffed millet cereals.
Ingredients: Puffed brown rice

Arrowhead Mills Organic Spelt Flakes
These are Sneaky because they have 9 grams of sugar even though it’s sweetened with apple juice concentrate.
Ingredients: Organic Whole Grain Spelt (Wheat) Flakes, Organic Fruit Juice Concentrate (Apple or Pear), Sea Salt, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and Vitamin E (to preserve freshness).

Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch Cereal
This cereal says whole grains, but what is has is oat flour and wheat flour mixed with sugar. There are 10 grams of sugar per serving and it’s not organic.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oat Flour; Whole Grain Wheat Flour; Cane Sugar; Unsulfured Molasses; Pea Protein Concentrate; Sea Salt; Baking Soda; Barley Malt Extract; Tocopherols (Antioxidants To Maintain Freshness)

Barbara’s Puffins Original & Cinnamon
Again, this cereal says whole grain and it’s mostly made of flour with corn bran and oat fiber added in. None of the ingredients is organic.
Ingredients: yellow corn meal with added corn bran, unsulphured molasses, whole oat flour, expeller pressed high oleic oil (canola and/or sunflower, salt, cinnamon, natural flavor, baking soda, vitamin C, natural vitamin E.

Cascadian Farm Cocoa Oats / Honey Nut O’s
These varieties contain sunflower oil and 13 and 7 grams of sugar per serving, respectively.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats*, Whole Grain Barley*, Cane Sugar*, Wheat Starch*, Malted Barley Extract*, Honey*, Sea Salt, Molasses*, Oats*, Calcium Carbonate, Sunflower Oil*, Malted Barley*, Natural Almond Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farm Cereal Organic Fruitful O’s
This cereal has 11 grams of sugar. This cereal has all the markers for a healthy choice but it has a lot of sugar.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Yellow Corn Meal*, Cane Sugar*, Yellow Corn Meal*, Whole Grain Purple Corn Flour*, Tapioca Syrup*, Sunflower Oil*, Sea Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Annatto*, Natural Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares
These squares contain 7 grams of white sugar, over our threshold for Good Stuff!
Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat*, Rice*, Corn Meal*, Sugar*, Sea Salt, Barley Malt Extract*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Kashi
Now owned by Kellogg, Kashi makes 25 types of cereal, but they all have too much sugar to be Good or Okay Stuff.
Ingredients in Cinnamon Harvest: Whole Grain Wheat*, Cane Sugar*, Cinnamon*, Natural Flavor*. *Organic

Kirkland Signature Ancient Grains
A lot of you asked about this because you love getting it at Costco. The ingredients are all organic, and include rolled oats, kamut wheat, rolled spelt, almonds, rolled quinoa, rolled amaranth. While this is all great, the nine grams of sugar (per serving) this cereal contains knocks this out of Good Stuff territory.
Ingredients: Whole grain rolled oats, cane sugar, soy oil, KAMUT khorasan wheat, rolled spelt, almonds, inulin, rice starch, rolled quinoa, rolled amaranth, sea salt, molasses, cinnamon, natural vanilla flavor, probiotics, tocopherols

Love Grown Power’s O’s–Chocolate
This flavor includes a healthful bean blend. Unfortunately, it packs 9 grams of sugar per serving and is not organic. FYI: The strawberry and honey flavors from this brand aren’t any better. However, the original one with 1 gram of sugar is Okay Stuff. It has the grain and bean blend with no sugar or oil.
Ingredients: Bean blend (navy beans, lentils, garbanzo beans), brown rice flour, cane sugar, cocoa (processed with alkali), high oleic sunflower oil, natural flavor (chocolate, vanilla), salt, vitamin E (to maintain freshness), sunflower lecithin.

Mom’s Best Honey Nut Toasty O’s
This brand has cane sugar and honey with 13 grams of added sugar!
Ingredients: Whole grain oat flour, sugar, wheat starch, honey, salt, calcium carbonate, trisodium phosphate, caramel color, molasses, natural flavor, vitamins & minerals

Nature’s Path Panda Puffs
These contain soy oil and have 9 grams of sugar per serving. It has only 3 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Organic whole grain corn meal, organic corn meal, organic cane sugar, organic peanut butter, organic soy oil, sea salt, tocopherols (vitamin e).

Nature’s Path Flax Plus Raisin Bran
I like that this is organic, but it contains 11 grams of sugar per serving. Not sure why they had to add cane sugar when the raisins already provided 5 grams of sugar.
Ingredients: Organic whole wheat meal, organic raisins (coated with organic sunflower oil), organic wheat bran, organic cane sugar, organic flax seeds, organic oat bran, organic barley malt extract, sea salt, tocopherols (vitamin E).

Trader Joe’s O’s
I know that Maia buys this ones for her kids, but it’s not organic, and contains modified corn starch and white sugar. Trader Joe’s Honey Nut O’s are also Sneaky with 9 grams of sugar per serving.
Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats & Oat bran, Modified Corn Starch, Sugar, Oat Fiber
& Vitamin E added to Preserve Freshness.


The Granola Problem
Above, you’ll see one brand of truly healthful granola, listed as Good Stuff. Unfortunately, most brands of granola you find in health food stores contain a lot of either cane sugar or cane syrup and/or seed oils like canola or sunflower. Granola brands we do not recommend include:
- Cascadian Farm Organic Granola
- HempYeah! Granola
- Back to Nature Granola
- Kind Granola (also contains canola oil)
Please let us know about other cereal brands you love!


Suzanne, Certified Holistic Health Coach
P.S. You’ll notice in this post that I’ve linked a variety of a lot of these cereals to be purchased at Thrive Market. If you aren’t familiar with Thrive, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s a Costco-meets-Whole Foods-meets-Amazon model, with hard-to-find healthful foods delivered–for free–at steeply discounted prices.

Note: This article contains affiliate links or sponsored content, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that meet our strict standards for non-toxicity and that we use (or want to use!) ourselves. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Good Stuff!
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Hello,
What about Purely Elizabeth ancient grains original granola? Their ingredients are organic and seem to be the good stuff!Yes, Purely Elizabeth is Good STuff! This guide is in need of an update:)
This is great stuff. Thanks for your extensive research on all the popular cereals. It has always been a problem of plenty for me when it comes to picking the right cereal. Thanks to your super informative guide I can make more educated decisions while choosing the cereal.
However, I haven’t seen Trader Joe’s Organic High Fiber O’s Cereal (https://www.ebay.com/itm/223269186952) here on this list. What do you think about this one? How would you rate this one? Good, okay, bad or sneaky and why?
charli doesnt deserve the tik tok hype and thats on period
I think it’s worth noting that One Degree cereals and granolas are certified Glyphosate free!
What are your thoughts on living intentions cereal brand. My four year older loves the cacao crunch!
Thank you for your ongoing great work. However, I was disappointed that you did not specify how much sugar is in your best-rated Butterfly Bakery Granola from Vermont, perhaps because it’s “just pure maple syrup.” With minor differences, sugar is sugar when it comes to calories and tooth decay. ( “Natural” sugars are also not a realistic source of minerals–nor is sea salt–as some insist. )
You mentioned a preference for palm sugar. I am not familiar with this sugar, but assume it comes from the same source as palm and palm kernel oil—-palm plantations created by clearing rain forests. Our use of these products comes at the cost of destruction of habitat for endangered species like the orangutan, destruction of the homelands of native peoples, and increased global warming.
I also disagree with your characterization of coconut oil as a “nutritional powerhouse.” Just because it’s a “natural” saturated fat doesn’t mean it’s great. For most Americans, the problem is not lack of coconut fat, it’s too much fat of all types.
Hi, I’m always skeptical about anything that has “natural flavors” but since it’s now being included even in organic products, I’m wondering about how safe those are. Do you have any input?
I think you’re right to be skeptical. There’s some good evidence that “natural flavors” are Sneaky Stuff.
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