You can’t turn on the news without an expert reminding you to eat more whole grains to aid digestion and fight cancer. Manufacturers are listening, filling supermarket shelves with whole-grain standbys like Kellogg’s Smart Start and General Mills’ Fiber One, Wheaties and Cheerios. But what about those other brands that have been cropping up? We rated five cereals (each costs about $4.00) for nutrition, flavor and texture, on a scale of zero to three spoons. Dig in!

NATURE’S PATH HERITAGE O’S MULTIGRAIN CEREAL
Main ingredients Oats, wheat, kamut, spelt, barley, quinoa, millet
Nutrients per cup (without milk) 120 calories, 1 g fat, no cholesterol, 115 mg sodium, 4 g protein, 24 g total carbs, 3 g fiber, 3 g sugars
Taste Wheaty, slightly sweet-think Wheaties crossed with malted milk balls.
Texture Still crisp after soaking in milk
Rating Three spoons; Approved by the kids among our judges

NATURE’S PATH HERITAGE FLAKES MULTIGRAIN CEREAL
Main ingredients Oats, wheat, millet, quinoa, kamut, spelt, barley
Nutrients per cup (without milk) 100 calories, 1 g fat, no cholesterol, 135 mg sodium, 4 g protein, 23 g total carbs, 6 g fiber, 4 g sugars
Taste Nicely wheaty
Texture Crunchy even in milk
Rating Three spoons

KASHI GO LEAN CRUNCH
Main ingredients Oats, rye, wheat, buckwheat, soy, barley, brown rice, sesame seeds
Nutrients per cup 190 calories, 3 g fat, no cholesterol, 95 mg sodium, 9 g protein, 36 g total carbs, 8 g fiber, 13 g sugars
Taste Sweet, with a hint a cinnamon but a strange aftertaste
Texture Crunchy even in milk
Rating Two spoons; Our taster kids liked this too

ARROWHEAD MILLS ORGANIC KAMUT FLAKES
Main ingredients Kamut flour, amaranth, quinoa, brown rice
Nutrients per cup (without milk) 120 calories, 1 g fat, no cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 4 g protein, 25 g total carbs, 2 g fiber, 2 g sugars
Taste Slightly sweet and peppery
Texture Eat up-they go limp in a hurry!
Rating One spoon

KASHI 7 WHOLE GRAIN PUFFS
Main ingredients Oats, rye, wheat, buckwheat, barley, brown rice, sesame seeds
Nutrients per cup (without milk) 70 calories, 0.5 g fat, no cholesterol, no sodium, 2 g protein, 15 g total carbs, 1 g fiber, no sugars
Taste Nearly tasteless
Texture Unpleasantly chewy and soggy in milk
Rating Zero spoons

Q: WHAT DOES “VITAMIN-ENRICHED” MEAN?
A: Refining whole grains (to extend shelf life) removes nutrients. Enriching restores all or most of the iron, folate and vitamins B-1, B-2 and B-3. But of other lost nutrients, including magnesium, fiber, zinc, potassium, copper, selenium and vitamins B-6 and E the % restored by enriching = 0.

LABEL LINGO
The Whole Grains Council stamp lists the amount of whole grains per serving so you don’t need to pore over the ingredients list. There are currently two versions:

“WHOLE GRAIN” The product contains at least 8 grams of whole grain per serving.

“100% WHOLE GRAIN” It contains at least 16 grams of whole grain per serving, with no refined grains.