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CNN Live At Daybreak
A Look at New Cereal Trends
Aired February 11, 2004 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, before you sit down to your favorite bowl of cereal this morning, you'll want to sit down with us.
Our favorite dietitian, Lisa Drayer, is here in Atlanta with a look at new cereal trends.
Welcome to Atlanta.
LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: Good to be here, Carol.
COSTELLO: We usually talk to you from New York.
And you have a whole bunch of cereals out here and they all look pretty good.
DRAYER: Right. Well, I just want to emphasize, this is a report from the Center for Science In the Public Interest. They took a look at some new cereals that we're seeing in aisles lately. And they put them into different categories and there's some good stuff about a lot of these cereals, but things to watch out for, as well.
COSTELLO: So let's start with the natural foods brands, the stuff that's natural and is supposed to be great for you.
DRAYER: Right. They are pretty good. They contain a lot of whole grains, that is, you use the whole grain in the cereal so it's not stripped of its nutritious parts, as you would find in refined grains. There also tends to be less sugar in the natural cereals.
COSTELLO: So give us an example. What's a natural one?
DRAYER: This would be one, with the organic --
COSTELLO: Optimum.
DRAYER: Right. The Nature's Path. The bad news is they're not necessarily fortified with vitamins, because they're natural.
COSTELLO: Of course.
DRAYER: You know, you don't necessarily have...
COSTELLO: So you have to take a multivitamin or something like that.
DRAYER: Right. If you do take a multi it's not a big deal. COSTELLO: Is Kashi included in the natural stuff?
DRAYER: It is.
COSTELLO: Because that is so popular now.
DRAYER: It's great and it's great for weight loss, as we're going to talk about.
COSTELLO: Oh, OK.
OK, talk about the fruit cereals...
DRAYER: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... because these Cheerios with the little fruit in it that's delicious.
DRAYER: They're great. They're great. And that's the good news, is that now we're seeing more fruit that's added to cereals. It's real fruit.
COSTELLO: So it's real fruit?
DRAYER: It's real fruit. It's freeze dried fruit, unlike what was added in the past, which was, you know, some sugar and coloring. But, you do need to read the ingredient list because oftentimes there's more sugar than fruit in the cereal. So look at the list and take a look at how high up the fruit is listed.
COSTELLO: And Cheerios is a pretty good one.
DRAYER: It is.
COSTELLO: Yes, we like Cheerios.
Weight loss claims. Let's talk about that, because I've heard of the Special K diet. You eat two bowls of cereal and then a dinner and you're supposed to lose all this weight.
DRAYER: Right.
COSTELLO: Is that true?
DRAYER: Well, the Center for Science In the Public Interest claims that that's not necessarily true. That is, they did lose weight, participants that followed the Special K diet, but it wasn't necessarily a greater amount of weight loss as compared to those who ate another cereal twice per day.
So the idea is that cereal in and of itself is not going to help you lose weight. You have to cut back on calories throughout the day. But I should say that some of these are great, like Kashi; very high in fiber, which helps you to feel full; also high in protein, which helps to suppress your appetite.
COSTELLO: And I guess we should mention that you should use skim milk in the cereal and not...
DRAYER: Not the whole milk.
COSTELLO: ... like whole milk and all that kind of stuff.
DRAYER: That's right.
COSTELLO: One more thing, health claims.
DRAYER: Right.
COSTELLO: Let's get quickly into that before you have to go.
DRAYER: Sure. We do see some health claims that are used now on cereals, and other foods, for that matter. These are FDA backed claims. That is, there has to be some evidence in order to make the claims. So cereals would have to meet a certain standard. For example, soy and cholesterol. In order for a cereal to bear the claim that soy may help to reduce cholesterol levels, it has to contain six and a quarter grams of soy protein per serving. So not necessarily all of these soy cereals do make that claim, but some definitely do.
COSTELLO: All right, Lisa Drayer, many thanks.
And you've helped a lot of people out there eating cereal right now, I bet.
DRAYER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 11, 2004 - 06:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, before you sit down to your favorite bowl of cereal this morning, you'll want to sit down with us.
Our favorite dietitian, Lisa Drayer, is here in Atlanta with a look at new cereal trends.
Welcome to Atlanta.
LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: Good to be here, Carol.
COSTELLO: We usually talk to you from New York.
And you have a whole bunch of cereals out here and they all look pretty good.
DRAYER: Right. Well, I just want to emphasize, this is a report from the Center for Science In the Public Interest. They took a look at some new cereals that we're seeing in aisles lately. And they put them into different categories and there's some good stuff about a lot of these cereals, but things to watch out for, as well.
COSTELLO: So let's start with the natural foods brands, the stuff that's natural and is supposed to be great for you.
DRAYER: Right. They are pretty good. They contain a lot of whole grains, that is, you use the whole grain in the cereal so it's not stripped of its nutritious parts, as you would find in refined grains. There also tends to be less sugar in the natural cereals.
COSTELLO: So give us an example. What's a natural one?
DRAYER: This would be one, with the organic --
COSTELLO: Optimum.
DRAYER: Right. The Nature's Path. The bad news is they're not necessarily fortified with vitamins, because they're natural.
COSTELLO: Of course.
DRAYER: You know, you don't necessarily have...
COSTELLO: So you have to take a multivitamin or something like that.
DRAYER: Right. If you do take a multi it's not a big deal. COSTELLO: Is Kashi included in the natural stuff?
DRAYER: It is.
COSTELLO: Because that is so popular now.
DRAYER: It's great and it's great for weight loss, as we're going to talk about.
COSTELLO: Oh, OK.
OK, talk about the fruit cereals...
DRAYER: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... because these Cheerios with the little fruit in it that's delicious.
DRAYER: They're great. They're great. And that's the good news, is that now we're seeing more fruit that's added to cereals. It's real fruit.
COSTELLO: So it's real fruit?
DRAYER: It's real fruit. It's freeze dried fruit, unlike what was added in the past, which was, you know, some sugar and coloring. But, you do need to read the ingredient list because oftentimes there's more sugar than fruit in the cereal. So look at the list and take a look at how high up the fruit is listed.
COSTELLO: And Cheerios is a pretty good one.
DRAYER: It is.
COSTELLO: Yes, we like Cheerios.
Weight loss claims. Let's talk about that, because I've heard of the Special K diet. You eat two bowls of cereal and then a dinner and you're supposed to lose all this weight.
DRAYER: Right.
COSTELLO: Is that true?
DRAYER: Well, the Center for Science In the Public Interest claims that that's not necessarily true. That is, they did lose weight, participants that followed the Special K diet, but it wasn't necessarily a greater amount of weight loss as compared to those who ate another cereal twice per day.
So the idea is that cereal in and of itself is not going to help you lose weight. You have to cut back on calories throughout the day. But I should say that some of these are great, like Kashi; very high in fiber, which helps you to feel full; also high in protein, which helps to suppress your appetite.
COSTELLO: And I guess we should mention that you should use skim milk in the cereal and not...
DRAYER: Not the whole milk.
COSTELLO: ... like whole milk and all that kind of stuff.
DRAYER: That's right.
COSTELLO: One more thing, health claims.
DRAYER: Right.
COSTELLO: Let's get quickly into that before you have to go.
DRAYER: Sure. We do see some health claims that are used now on cereals, and other foods, for that matter. These are FDA backed claims. That is, there has to be some evidence in order to make the claims. So cereals would have to meet a certain standard. For example, soy and cholesterol. In order for a cereal to bear the claim that soy may help to reduce cholesterol levels, it has to contain six and a quarter grams of soy protein per serving. So not necessarily all of these soy cereals do make that claim, but some definitely do.
COSTELLO: All right, Lisa Drayer, many thanks.
And you've helped a lot of people out there eating cereal right now, I bet.
DRAYER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
