Fiber, fiber everywhere The General Mills folks seem to be trying to transform Fiber One, the high-fiber cereal that comes in three -- no, now four -- varieties, into their version of Kellogg's Special K or Nabisco's Oreos: a brand that turns up in almost every aisle in the store. (FYI, the original flavor of the cereal has 14 grams of fiber -- 57 percent of the daily value -- in a 1/2-cup serving; the other three flavors, and all the other Fiber One products, have lots less.)
Besides the cereal, General Mills had already given us five flavors of Fiber One chewy bars, each with 9 grams of fiber; four flavors of Fiber One yogurt, each with 5 grams of fiber; Fiber One apple cinnamon muffin mix (5 grams per muffin), and in some markets three kinds of Fiber One bread with from 4 to 7 grams of fiber per slice.
And now there are several flavors of Fiber One toaster pastries -- the Fiber One version of Pop-Tarts -- each with 5 grams of fiber. That's right: General Mills is attempting to take on Pop-Tarts, the unstoppable behemoth of toaster pastry. And at a considerable price premium. At one store, where Pop-Tarts -- including Whole Grain Pop-Tarts, with 5 grams of fiber each, just like Fiber One's -- sell for $1.95 for eight (24 cents each), the Fiber One version sells for $2.25 for six -- 37 cents each and 48 percent more per ounce than the high-fiber Pop-Tarts.
How convenient! They have more calories than the 100-calorie items we see everywhere, but new snack-size Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars are less caloric than the original ones, with 190 calories each instead of the 300 or 320 in the full-size versions. Of course (sing along), they cost more. The box of four (1.85-ounce) snack bars has the same price as the box of three (3-ounce) full-size bars. So they cost 22 percent more per ounce.
Remembrance Dear friends: Last week it was 19 years since my son Joe died in a seven-story fall from his college dorm room in Madison, Wis. He had taken LSD; he was 18.
Hug your kids.
AL SICHERMAN
