<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<item>
  <id>11541</id>
  <title>Rice Krispies on Steroids</title>
  <published_at>Fri Feb 27 14:08:00 -0800 2009</published_at>
  <link>http://www.chow.com/stories/11541</link>
  <pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:08:00 GMT</pubDate>
  <short_description>Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies and Banana Nut Cheerios</short_description>
  <long_description>This week's mission: Classic breakfast cereal gets bigger, multigrainier, and fruitier.</long_description>
  <img>http://www.chow.com</img>
  <author>James Norton</author>
  <category>
    <id>88</id>
    <name>Supertaster</name>
  </category>
  <pages>
    <page>
      <page_number>1</page_number>
      <content>
        <![CDATA[<p><a target="blank" href="http://www.ricekrispies.com/Product.aspx?id=15231"><strong>Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies</strong></a>
<img src="/assets/2009/02/inline1_krispies.jpg" border="0" />
By: Kellogg&#8217;s
I Paid: $3.69 for an 11.2-ounce box (prices may vary by region)
Taste: 1
Marketing: 4</p>


	<p>There&#8217;s something profoundly jarring about the concept of big Rice Krispies; one of the essential aspects of the cereal has always been its tiny, featherlike, blow-away nature. Why mess with a legend?</p>


	<p>If recent commercials are any indicator, you mess with a legend so that the millions of little baby hands that now grasp Cheerios with almost total exclusivity will grip and eat Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies instead.</p>


	<p>In many ways, aiming for the baby segment is a wise move for Kellogg&#8217;s: It establishes a new niche, challenges a rival on its home turf, and avoids the awkward fact that no adult with functioning taste buds is actually going to choose to eat these things.</p>


	<p>Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies suffer from Generic Cereal Cornmeal Syndrome, an affliction that causes cheap knockoff cereals to have a powdery texture that turns into a gluelike mess when exposed to milk. The beauty of classic Rice Krispies is their diatomaceous structure, a skeletal approach to cereal design that makes for a light, crisp, milk-permeable breakfast. Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies are built much more like biodegradable packing peanuts: little beige turds of grain that quickly get milk-logged.</p>


	<p>Your infant won&#8217;t eat cereal with milk. But for adults, the pastiness problem may be a deal-killer.</p>


	<p>===</p>


	<p><a target="blank" href="http://www.cheerios.com/ourCereals/BananaNutCheerios/BananaNutCheerios_home.aspx"><strong>Banana Nut Cheerios</strong></a>
<img src="/assets/2009/02/inline2_cheerios.jpg" border="0" />
By: General Mills
I Paid: $3.69 for a 10.9-ounce box (prices may vary by region)
Taste: 3
Marketing: 3</p>


	<p>With the launch of Banana Nut Cheerios, General Mills has decided to play with its winning formula and position itself squarely for &#8230; well, it&#8217;s not entirely clear. Possibly for the not necessarily lucrative &#8220;people who want to eat banana bread for breakfast&#8221; market?</p>


	<p>The Cheerios&#8212;which are whole grain&#8212;come on strong and furious with an assertive banana taste that lingers after the cereal has been swallowed. If you&#8217;re a banana fan, you&#8217;ll be pleased: It&#8217;s a relatively natural flavor, not a nasty dose of <a target="blank" href="http://www.oldtimecandy.com/runts.htm">Runts</a>-style artificial banana. The Cheerios themselves are a little less robust than their conventional cousins, and thankfully not overwhelmingly imbued with a whole-grain aftertaste or undertone. Other than the banana blast, they&#8217;re light on the palate and complement milk quite pleasantly.</p>


	<p>If you&#8217;ve got family members on a steady Cheerios/Honey Nut Cheerios breakfast rotation, throwing in the Banana Nut variety is guaranteed to elicit a confused and impassioned reaction, one way or the other. As to whether the cereal becomes a pantry regular, that&#8217;s something that will have to be considered one banana-lover at a time.</p>]]>
      </content>
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