Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Why are there no nuts in Honey Nut Cheerios?


Or to ask the question differently, do you think Honey Nut Cheerios contains nuts?

You'd think so wouldn't you.

You'd be wrong.

There are no actual "nuts" in Honey Nut Cheerios.

What there is, and it's the second to last of 18 ingredients behind the 6 different types of sugar representing ingredients 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9, is, "natural almond flavour".

What is, "natural almond flavour"?

Well according to Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation it's benzaldehyde which in turn is generally derived from peach and apricot pits.

Can't say I blame Cheerios on this one though. Do you think "Honey Benzaldehyde Cheerios" would sell? It just doesn't seem to have the same zing and really, what good are ethics when it comes to sales?

[Hat tip to my wonderful wife]