Granola again

By AL SICHERMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: October 14, 2009 - 11:12 AM

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About two years ago, General Mills' Nature Valley cut through all the "chewy," "crunchy," "sweet & salty" and other granola-bar code words, removed all the oats and such, and produced Roasted Nut Crunch bars. Not granola, just nuts plus sugar, corn syrup and salt: It's nut brittle. Pretty good, too.

Taking a step back, the latest Nature Valley product is Nut Clusters. The word "Granola" appears above "Nut Clusters" on the bag, but in type about one-fourth as big. It's nutty granola (several kinds), but it's not a bar; it's little clumps about an inch across. The bag says one serving is eight clusters, and there are 4 1/2 servings in the 5-ounce bag.

At one store they cost 40 cents more than the Nature Valley granola (and Roasted Nut Crunch) bars. The average box of all those bars is 8 ounces, but there are only 5 ounces of clusters in the bag. That's 80 percent more per ounce.

Hot whole grain

There's a new version of a hot cereal; surprisingly it's not another kind of Quaker instant oatmeal. Compared with Quaker it's been quiet at Cream of Wheat; there are only the original product, quicker-cooking stovetop versions and an instant line with five flavors.

But now there's Instant Cream of Wheat Healthy Grain whole-grain cereal, with 7 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber in a serving of about seven-eighths of a cup, compared with about a three-fourths-cup (thinner) serving of regular Instant Cream of Wheat, with 3 grams of protein and 1 gram of fiber.

At one store the 8-serving 12.7-ounce box of Healthy Grain costs 56 cents more than the 12-serving 12-ounce box of regular Cream of Wheat -- that's 73 percent more per (thicker) serving.

Remembrance

Dear friends: It was 20 years ago today that my son Joe died in a seven-story fall from his college dorm room in Madison, Wis. He had taken LSD; he was 18. To read the article I wrote in 1989, go to tinyurl.com/ye9hxta. A recommended introduction from 1999 is at tinyurl.com/y8o56nd.

Hug your kids.

AL SICHERMAN