Kellogg's Froot Loops

Product name: Kellogg’s Froot Loops
Purchase details: £0.79 for a 350g box (Home Bargains)
Calories: 117 per 30g serving (159 per 30g serving with 125ml skimmed milk)
Country of origin: UK

I’ve got two different memories of Kellogg’s Froot Loops from my childhood. The main one is Woody sticking his head in a bowl of them (or something that was supposed to hint at them!) in Toy Story (see the end of this clip if you don’t know what I’m talking about). The other one, though, was being told that the different colours were artificial and all the additives made kids hyper. As a result, as much as I wanted to try the cereal, I never did.

 

As an adult, although I’ve been tempted to buy a box previously, I’ve always been put off by the high prices. That’s why, when I saw this amazing offer as part of Home Bargains’ ‘Spotted on Star Buys’ promotion, I was straight in there – the limited shelf life wasn’t going to bother me. As it happens, the ‘multi-grain cereal’ specified that it was made with natural colours and flavours...so there!

 

The ‘mixed cereal fruit flavoured loops’ were designed for kids and effectively looked like colourful Nestlé Cheerios and came in a red box that featured a toucan as its mascot. In addition to the positivity surrounding the lack of artificial colours and flavours, the cereal (made from corn, oats and wheat) also contained folic acid and various vitamins and minerals (including at least half of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C). On the downside, each 30g serving contained 14g of sugar...not so great.

The box contained around 11 servings and contained green, purple and yellow loops that were hard, lightweight and a little sticky to the touch. Combined, they produced a slightly juicy, fruity scent when dry, but smelt more of general cereal when covered in milk.

I assumed that the different colours represented different flavours so I tried each one on its own first. They all appeared to have a slightly sweet coating and they did taste pretty similar but with subtle differences. The yellow rings tasted like fairly plain cereal and, if anything, reminded me of Kellogg’s Corn Pops. In comparison, the green loops were sweeter and, although there was no immediately obvious fruity taste, they did seem to have a minimalist apple tang in the aftertaste. This was noticeable when dry but stronger when wet. The purple loops remained sweet but, again, there was no fruity flavour. At this stage, I couldn’t help but wonder why they were called 'Froot Loops'!

I obviously did proceed to eat combined spoonfuls of the cereal to get a proper idea of what it tasted like. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of flavour, but the green’s fruity hint definitely came out the strongest. However, just when I was thinking that the overall flavour was the same as any other sweet cereal, I found that an apricot taste emerged as more milk was absorbed. This was pleasant but I still wouldn’t have said the bowl screamed ‘fruit!’.

Texturally, the Froot Loops were very good. They remained nice and crispy, even when wet – their surfaces got a little soggy over time but this never affected the structure.

This cereal was definitely nice enough, and I enjoyed the sugary milk it left behind, but I’m glad I didn’t pay over the odds for a box since I didn’t find them very fruity at all. Coincidentally, I saw that Erin reviewed the American version over at Guilt Free Veggie yesterday, and it turns out our recipe is different...maybe I’d prefer the strength of flavour on offer in the USA?

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Kinder Chocolate: With cereals

Product name: Kinder Chocolate: With cereals
Purchase details: £0.52 for a 23.5g bar (Martin’s)
Calories: 131 per bar

I have a small Kinder Chocolate bar most days with my lunch so I was intrigued by this new product which came described as ‘fine milk chocolate with cereal and a smooth milky filling’.

This With cereals bar came in a wrapper that continued the white and red Kinder theme, with the white looking like spilt milk. It also contained an illustration of the chocolate bar, cereals and a glass of milk.

The bar was distributed by Ferrero UK and seemed to be the usual Kinder Chocolate concept with ‘a delicious milky filling’ and consisted of 33.5% chocolate and 7.5% cereals which were made up of barley, rice, wheat, spelt and buckwheat. It was these five cereals that made this product different, and the wrapper promised a ‘great taste’ and described how they had been ‘simply puffed and toasted’. In total, the product contained 30.5% milk solids and, since it had been designed for kids, the 23.5g portion size was relatively small.

 

The bar was divided into 10 pieces which each contained a cereal imprint. Although it was shallow, it did feel quite big, and so it did still feel like a treat. The cereal pieces were visible through the base of the bar and seemed similar in appearance to Sugar Puffs. The chocolate and milky filling looked like standard Kinder Chocolate but the filling’s smoothness was interrupted by the aforementioned cereal. Whilst I can’t say it looked as nice as the usual, plain bar, it did still look nice. I was also pleased that the usual sweet, milky aroma remained.

On tasting this snack, I was surprised that the cereal provided quite a strong flavour and actually did taste like Sugar Puffs! There was quite a caramelised taste which was very sweet and tasty but whether or not the cereal had been toasted in sugar, I’m not sure. Due to the strength of this flavour, the general Kinder Chocolate taste was weaker than I’d expected, although there was still a chocolate element there. I did think it was a shame that the milky flavour that I love wasn’t very strong, though.

Texturally, the cereal pieces were soft and fluffy but with crunchy edges. I found it to be similar to popcorn so, combined with the flavours, I thought the overall product was like a popcorn-filled chocolate bar, although creamier and with fewer puffy bits. It was possible to let the chocolate melt and chew the cereal afterwards but I preferred to chew the whole thing as this kept the slight crispiness from the cereal and also provided a more satisfying flavour.

This With cereals bar didn’t taste or feel how I expected it to but it did offer a really nice flavour that’s not present in the original Kinder Chocolate bars. I do prefer the smooth texture of the latter, but this was far, far nicer than I thought it would be and I would happily eat it again. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 8/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.63/10