Review of 'Kashi' GOLEAN Original

Kashi -- GOLEAN Original
Overall Rating: 3/5
Summary: this is a subtly sweet and hearty cereal. The textures are complex and each bite is quite enjoyable. The nutritional profile is great (low-calorie, low-fat, high in fiber and protein). If it were not for the poor GMO status of Kashi at the moment, I'd rank it higher. I didn't deduct quite so many, since Kashi is trying to phase out GMOs.

Where to buy: Fortinos, Shopper's Drug Mart



Ingredients: soy grits, Kashi Seven Whole Grains & Sesame (hard red wheat, brown rice, whole grain oats, triticale, barley, rye, buckwheat, sesame seeds), evaporated cane juice syrup, corn meal, corn flour, soy protein, wheat bran, oat fiber, corn bran, *honey, evaporated cane juice, natural flavours, calcium carbonate, salt, annatto color.

*Not vegan

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 cup
Calories: 140
     Calories from fat: 10
Total fat: 1g
     Saturated: 0g
     Trans: 0g
     Polyunsaturated: .5g
     Monounsaturated: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 85mg
Potassium: 480mg
Total carb.: 30g
     Dietary fiber: 10g
          Soluble fiber: 1g
          Insoluble fiber: 9g
     Sugars: 6g
Protein: 13g
Calcium: 6%
Iron: 10%

So, the corn- and soy-based ingredients are most likely genetically modified, since Kashi has not yet been verified as non-GMO. While the ingredients are problematic, the nutritional profile is quite good.

For only 140 calories, each serving provides 10g of fiber and 13g of protein! Furthermore, it only has 1g of fat and is not too high in sugars. Once you add your milk of choice, you have a really well-rounded meal/snack that's very filling.

Other Kashi GOLEAN cereals:

• GOLEAN® Cereal Crisp! Cinnamon Crumble (vegan) (reviewed here)
• GOLEAN® Cereal Crisp! Toasted Berry Crumble (vegan)
• GOLEAN® Cereal Crunch!
• GOLEAN® Cereal, Crunch! Honey Almond Flax

Brand:

• "Nine of our foods are now officially Non-GMO Project Verified including Autumn Wheat, Cinnamon Harvest, Island Vanilla, Strawberry Fields, 7 Whole Grain Flakes, 7 Whole Grain Puffs, 7 Whole Grain Pilaf, Simply Maize and Indigo Morning." (kashi.com)
• Phasing out GMOs: "That's why today Kashi announced a big initiative to increase the company's availability of organic and Non-GMO Project Verified foods. By the end of 2014, all existing Kashi® GOLEAN® cereals and Kashi® Chewy Granola Bars—representing Kashi's biggest offerings—will be Non-GMO Project Verified. Beginning in 2015, all new Kashi foods introduced into the market will contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients and will also be Non-GMO Project Verified" (read article here).
• "The soy in Kashi cereals comes from soybeans that have had a gene inserted to protect the soybeans from the herbicide Roundup, which kills, weeds," according to USA Today (read article here).
• Kellogg, which owns Kashi, contributed $600 000 against the non-GMO proposition 37 (read the Huffington Post article here)