If there is one food indulgence I have, it is Trader Joe’s cereals. One doesn’t get these in India, so I stock up on them during my US trips (or have Abhishek be the carrier). Thursday breakfast is Trader Joe’s cereals day at home!
I was reminded of my love for cereals when I came across a recent review in The Wall Street Journal of the book “Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America’s Favorite Breakfast Food“.
From the book’s blurb: “If you want to understand how the food business works, just have a look at a box of breakfast cereal. Hardly anything on supermarket shelves is bigger, bolder, or more deliberately designed. The fiercely competitive industry that brings us Cheerios, Froot Loops, and Trix sells a distinctly American dream: indulgence and health in one convenient package. Cereal boxes chronicle our shifting national obsessions with health, ingredients, dietary advice, and American culture. They show us what sells food: cartoons for kids, athletes for men, weight loss for women. And hidden in the history of cereal package designs, we find clues to the corporate lobbying that shapes agricultural policy, health claims, and labeling regulations. Sugar Coated unboxes the influence of cereal companies on food policy and the power of marketing, revealing, in the process, why Big Food is so good at selling profitable products regardless of their effects on health.”
From the review: “To do so, cereal brands carefully follow nutrition-advice trends. Manufacturers added and promoted vitamins in the 1930s. In more recent years cereal packaging has focused on antioxidants and protein. Mses. Nestle and Sutherland examine the nutrition claims on cereal boxes to show how the aims of marketers and those of the Food and Drug Administration—which are often in competition—influence what consumers see. Cereal companies also attempt to avoid unappetizing stickers, mandated in some other countries, warning of high sugar or fat content. Manufacturers counter with front-of-the-package labeling that highlights added vitamins and minerals or the “heart healthy” benefits of supplied fiber. In 1988 Kellogg printed claims on its boxes that Frosted Flakes are “more nutritious than eggs or fruit.””
As someone who has spent a lifetime in marketing, I found the book’s premise both fascinating and a little uncomfortable. The cereal box may be the most studied piece of marketing real estate in the world. Every inch of it is designed to make us feel good about what we are about to eat. And yet, knowing all this, I remain a willing customer. Perhaps that is the ultimate test of a brand. It is not whether the marketing fools you, but whether you keep coming back even after you see through it.
Here is the story I had written earlier: “I fell in love with cereals when I came to New York as a student in the late 80s. I tried various offerings from Kellogg’s (who cannot love Frosted Flakes) and the one I liked the most was Raisin Wheats. So, whenever I went to the US after my permanent return to India, I would buy a few packets. Many years later, my friend, Atanu, introduced me to Trader Joe’s, and their cereals – especially, the Vanilla Almond Clusters. My breakfast now had choices, including Raisin Bran and Mini-Wheats (but without the raisins). Then came two disruptions: Kellogg’s discontinued the Raisin Wheats and my sister (a doc) seeing my voracious cereal consumption limited it to just once a week. This rationing meant I had to carefully choose my cereals! I standardised on Trader Joe’s offerings.”
More specifically, I rely on three of their products: Vanilla Almond Clusters, Raisin Bran Clusters, and Frosted Shredded Wheats. At any given time, I have a stack for the next few months frozen in the fridge at home. (I have also tried Kashi’s Simply Raisin, but have found it hard to get on my recent US trips.) There is a certain satisfaction in opening the fridge and seeing the stack. It is a reminder that some of life’s pleasures are best when they are rationed.
There was a time when we weren’t as worried about sugar and health metrics. We simply ate and enjoyed. Of course, as one grows older, one becomes more health-wise. Now, with all the wearables, the feedback is instantaneous. (I don’t use any wearable – yet.) I look forward to my Thursday date with my cereals, and I hope my HbA1c stays at the right levels for that to continue.
Also see: Life Notes #45: Tea, Life Notes #60: Five Years after Covid, My Life System #20: Health
