April 2008
Quaker rolls out Simple Harvest hot cereal
Do low sodium and big flavor make this instant cereal a feel-good choice?
Quaker Simple Harvest has a bigger grain flavor than its brand mates but will cost you about 7 cents more per serving.
CR's Take. If you're looking for a change from your same old oatmeal, Quaker Simple Harvest might be worth a taste. It has a bigger
grain flavor than its brand mates. And if you are watching your sodium intake, it has considerably less sodium. But if you
are looking for less sugar, you might give Quaker Instant Lower Sugar a try, because it has half the sugar of its brand mates.
Quaker recently added a new hot cereal to its product line that contains more than just oats. Quaker Simple Harvest Instant Multigrain Hot Cereal is made from whole-grain rolled oats, whole-grain rolled wheat, whole-grain rolled rye, rolled barley, and whole flax seed. Flavors include apples with cinnamon, maple brown sugar with pecans, and vanilla, almond, and honey. Consumer Reports tested the apples with cinnamon variety against two brand mates (Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon and Quaker Instant Oatmeal Lower Sugar 50% Less Sugar Apples & Cinnamon) to see if this new multigrain cereal was tastier or a better nutritional choice.
What we found. Nutritionally (see chart below), the three hot cereals range from 110 to 150 calories and they have the same amount of fat. Quaker Instant and Quaker Instant Lower Sugar have almost double the sodium of Quaker Simple Harvest. Tastewise, Quaker Simple Harvest had a bigger grain flavor. The Lower Sugar had an unusual, artificial sweetness. Pricewise, the additional grains in Simple Harvest will cost you about 7 cents more per serving.
Compared with its brand mates, Quaker Simple Harvest doesn't have sodium sulfite (which promotes color retention) on its dehydrated apples and it isn't fortified. But Quaker Simple Harvest does have a fair amount of sugar (as does Quaker Instant). And do all those whole and rolled grains in Quaker Simple Harvest add up to lots of fiber? Not quite: It has only 1 gram more than its brand mates.
Quaker recently added a new hot cereal to its product line that contains more than just oats. Quaker Simple Harvest Instant Multigrain Hot Cereal is made from whole-grain rolled oats, whole-grain rolled wheat, whole-grain rolled rye, rolled barley, and whole flax seed. Flavors include apples with cinnamon, maple brown sugar with pecans, and vanilla, almond, and honey. Consumer Reports tested the apples with cinnamon variety against two brand mates (Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon and Quaker Instant Oatmeal Lower Sugar 50% Less Sugar Apples & Cinnamon) to see if this new multigrain cereal was tastier or a better nutritional choice.
What we found. Nutritionally (see chart below), the three hot cereals range from 110 to 150 calories and they have the same amount of fat. Quaker Instant and Quaker Instant Lower Sugar have almost double the sodium of Quaker Simple Harvest. Tastewise, Quaker Simple Harvest had a bigger grain flavor. The Lower Sugar had an unusual, artificial sweetness. Pricewise, the additional grains in Simple Harvest will cost you about 7 cents more per serving.
Compared with its brand mates, Quaker Simple Harvest doesn't have sodium sulfite (which promotes color retention) on its dehydrated apples and it isn't fortified. But Quaker Simple Harvest does have a fair amount of sugar (as does Quaker Instant). And do all those whole and rolled grains in Quaker Simple Harvest add up to lots of fiber? Not quite: It has only 1 gram more than its brand mates.
