The breakfast cereal and refined sugars/hydrogenated/trans fat laden granola bar industry, (General Mills, Kellogg's,Pepsico Owned Quaker Oats, Altera-Kraft-Tobacco Owned CW Post, etc.) have lost BILLIONS of dollars in total market share, over the past 15 years, to better for you energy and truly fuctional bars, as has the candy bar and confectionery industry, for the first time, in the past 24 months.

Pouring milk into a bowl in the morning, is no longer convenient for a society out the door to work on cell phones, and NOT really getting much of any nutrition from these aerated, sugary, salty, and less than wholesome dietary intake options, crowding supermarket shelves, because of back door bribe real estate fees paid the super market chains, they semantically call 'slotting fees', passed on to each and every consumer in the highly over priced retail cost per cereal box.

This group of deceptive marketers mentioned, lobby all the time for PHONY 'whole grain' and 'organic' labeling laws at FDA, that dumb-down nutrition, to line their pockets, and try to hold off, or blur, the clear choice distinction of better-for-you or more natural and less processed, brands offered to consumers.

My favorite story, absolutely true, is the the BIG CEREAL COMPANY who did a weight gain feeding test on a new allegedly better for you brand of a breakfast cereal. 

There was a base line group of lab rats fed the new cereal, versus a standard brand, already in the market place.

Guess what?  The standard brand cereal rats had normal anticipated weight gain, and the new and improved cereal rats seemed to be less healthy and lower in weight, when statisitcally correlated.

However, a third group of rats in cages, off to the side of the study, getting normal lab rat food and water, in combination with knawing through their cages at discarded cardboard box packaging (presumably the cellulose and starches in the cardboard) from the newer brand being tested, had the best nutritional weight gain and health of the three groups!!!

THERE WAS MORE NUTRITION IN THE CEREAL BOX THAN THE NEW CEREAL!!! 

Also overheard at a big food science convention, was the head corporate buyer of a BIG cereal company, being asked by an alternative supplier, why he was purchasing scientifcally proven non absorbable calcium (ground rock) for their special cereal targeting women for calcium fortification and bone loss issues?

The answer was very straight forward, "because it's the lowest in price".

The next time you think you are getting real absorbable nutrients, vitamins, or minerals, or other HYPED window dressing in or insignificant tiny amounts of some functional flavor of the week, in that smart or special or good for you box of breakfast cereal,or pretty packaging breakfast or snack bar, think again, and do not waist your time or money!