Friday, 1 February 2013

Review of 'Kashi' Heart to Heart® Cereal (Warm Cinnamon Oat)

Kashi -- Heart to Heart® Cereal (Warm Cinnamon Oat)
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Summary: oh boy, this cereal is pretty yummy. It's perfectly sweet (thanks to the evaporated cane syrup), the cinnamon flavour is fresh and present, and there's a really unique spice blend that's discernable. The texture is great--very crunchy and fresh and stays that way in milk for quite some time. If you prefer a slight tenderness to your cereal (like myself), you'll have to wait a good 3-5 minutes for that texture. I like that 1 cup is actually quite filling and it has a decent calorie count. This cereal is *not* one of Kashi's non-GMO products, so I will not recommend it nor will I buy it again. The brand is known for its advocacy against the GMO-labelling project.

Where to buy: I got this at a grocery store in the US, so not too sure if this cereal is available in Canada; buy online from the Kashi Store



Ingredients: whole oat flour, oat bran, evaporated cane syrup, yellow corn meal, corn flour, Kashi seven whole grain flour (whole: oats, hard red wheat, brown rice, triticale, barley, buckwheat), oat fiber, wheat germ, honey, cinnamon, salt, expeller pressed canola oil, natural flavour, decaffeinated green tea extract, alpha tocopherol acetate (vitamin E), decaffeinated white tea extract, baking soda, spices, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), activin grape seed extract, luo han fruit concentrate, beta carotene (a source of vitamin A), ferrous fumarate, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), turmeric for colour, zinc oxide, vitamin B12.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 3/4 cup
Calories: 120
Fat: 1.5g
     Saturated: 0g
     Trans: 0g
     Polyunsaturated: .5g
     Monounsaturated: .5g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 80mg
Potassium: 100mg
Total Carbohydrate: 25g
     Dietary fiber: 5g
     Soluble fiber: 1g
     Insoluble fiber: 4g
     Sugars: 5g
Protein: 4g
Vitamin A: 25%
Vitamin C: 50%
Iron: 15%

*Full nutritional profile available here.

Well, I really appreciate that there's only 5g of sugar in a 2/3 cup. That's not too bad at all. And the cereal tastes perfectly sweet, probably thanks to the cinnamon and spice accents. I still don't know why 1 cup of cereal isn't the standard portion. Who can really eat less than 1 cup of a delicious cereal? Not I.

So, unfortunately there are genetically modified organisms in this cereal (e.g. corn-based ingredients), so I'm not impressed. Thankfully, the nutritional profile is quite good. It's low in fat, has zero saturated fat, is low in sodium, and has a really good fiber and protein content. It's also enriched with essential vitamins. Still, due to the GMOs, I'm not recommending this cereal.

Other 'Heart to Heart' products:
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)
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