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Breakfast cereals may have the most obtrusive advertising in the whole grocery store.
2016-04-22
"Whole grain! Excellent source of fiber! No high fructose corn syrup!" they shout at you from the shelves.
But most cereals are highly processed foods, often with a lot of added sugar, whether it's named on the ingredients list as regular sugar, milled cane sugar, brown sugar, or honey.
Americans eat twice as much sugar as we're supposed to on average, and one of those sources of sugars could be your morning cereal. All you have to do is check the package to find out.
In 2016, I went to the grocery store and photographed every cereal on the shelves to see how much sugar they contained. I narrowed this list down to the most popular ones and ranked them from most sugar to least sugar based on a serving size of 3/4 cup, which was most common. (If you're looking for a ranking based on weight, see the list sorted by grams here.)
You may be surprised how they stack up:
All Bran Buds: 18 g
(People generally eat this high-fiber cereal in smaller servings, however.)Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Quaker Real Medleys: 14 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Raisin Bran: 13.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Go Lean Crunch: 13 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Cap'n Crunch: 12 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Cocoa Krispies: 12 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Krave: 11 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Lucky Charms: 10 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Cocoa Pebbles: 10 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Cocoa Puffs: 10 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Frosted Flakes: 10 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Honey Bunches of Oats with Vanilla Bunches: 9 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Reese's Puffs: 9 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Cinnamon Toast Crunch: 9 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Honey Nut Cheerios: 9 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Peace Cereal Vanilla Almond: 8.25 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Waffle Crisp: 7.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Apple Jacks: 7.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Trix: 7.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Fruit Loops: 7.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Nature's Path Sunrise: 6.82 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Special K Red Berries: 6.75 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Corn Pops: 6.75 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Life: 6 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Honey Bunches of Oats: 6 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Honeycomb: 5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Alpha Bits: 4.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Frosted Mini Wheats: 4.28 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Wheaties: 4 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Crispix: 3 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Special K: 3 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Rice Krispies: 2.4 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Kellogg's Corn Flakes: 2.25 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Kix: 1.8 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Rice Chex: 1.5 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
Cheerios: 0.75 g
Rebecca Harrington/Tech Insider
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Rebecca was an Executive Editor for Business Insider's news division, overseeing the Science, Speed news, Weekend news, LA news, Visual Features, and Voices of Color desks. She worked across teams to assign, coordinate, and edit breaking news, explainers, features, analysis, and investigations. She also developed guides, trainings, and coaching opportunities for the newsroom to get better every day.Rebecca started as a reporter on Tech Insider's science section in 2015, covering everything from solar energy and rocket launches to Zika, before moving to the news team during the summer of 2016 at the height of the presidential election and then running weekend coverage for 2 years. She's previously worked with the Politics, Military & Defense, and Video teams, and served as an editorial liaison with the product team that powers the CMS.She received her Master's degree from the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University, as well as a BS in Biology and a BA in Journalism from the University of Minnesota. Rebecca has also written for Popular Science, Scientific American, Scienceline, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Minnesota Daily.ExpertiseBreaking news, legal analysis, criminal justice, police misconduct, public health, abortion, space, energy, visual features, extreme weather, White House history, voting rights, executive actionsPopular articlesJust don't call it 'climate change': What Republicans in Dallas can teach us about saving the planetWhat Buzz Aldrin was thinking when he left the moonHow the 25th Amendment works to remove a sitting presidentHurricane categories tell only part of the storyTRUMP'S FIRST 100 DAYS: Here's how they compare with Obama's, Bush's, and Clinton's
