US vs UK Cereals: Frosted Flakes, Cheerios, and More | Food Wars

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Harry: From calorie count to portion sizes,
we wanted to find out all the differences
between breakfast cereals in the UK and the US.
This is "Food Wars."
Hey, everyone, Joe from "Food Wars."
I'm actually not in this episode,
because myself, Conner, and Yuelei
are busy making a new season of "Food Wars"
with a new country.
Ooh!
But don't worry, I'll chime in every once in a while
and be super annoying.
We're doing a cereal episode.
Now, obviously there are a lot of breakfast cereals
in the UK and the US,
and we can't cover them all in one episode.
So we're going to start with the two
best sellers in America,
which are Frosted Flakes and Honey Nut Cheerios.
Then, after that, we might get into some fun cereals
which you can't find in one country or the other.
That sound good to you, Irene?
Yeah, sounds great, Harry.
First things first, Frosted Flakes?
What is going on there?
In the UK, we actually just call them Frosties.
OK, this is the one time I think the UK
has a better term for something.
'Cause Frosties is actually kind of cute.
It's like besties.
In the UK, Frosties come in five sizes,
starting with this one, which is a 25-gram box,
which comes as part of one of these multipacks.
From there, we move up to a 375-gram box.
Next up, we've got a 500-gram box of Frosties.
From there, we move up to a 750-gram box.
Then our largest size is this one,
the big 1-kilogram box.
In the US, Frosted Flakes also come in four sizes.
We start with the 60-gram cup,
which you can just add milk directly into and eat.
Next up, we have the 24-ounce,
or 680-gram, family-size box.
From there, we move up to a 34-ounce mega size,
but this actually isn't the largest one.
We actually go one step further, with a
[bag crunching]
39.5-ounce, or 1,120-gram, bag.
That means our largest size is 12% larger than the UK's.
In the UK, the recommended serving size for Frosties
is 30 grams,
which means that our largest box
contains roughly 33 servings.
Let's find out what 30 grams of Frosties
actually looks like.
Digital scales! We finally got digital scales.
I leave for one episode and we get the digi scales.
What the heck, guys? I want one.
How precise can we go?
[laughs] Not very.
That is 30.08 grams of Frosties right there.
In an actual cereal bowl, that is nothing.
In the US, the recommended serving size for Frosted Flakes
is actually 37 grams,
which is 23% more than in the UK.
So while our largest packet size might be a little bigger,
we're technically getting fewer servings.
Just 30 compared to the UK's 33.
[bag crackles]
Does this count as ASMR? [bag crunching]
37. I did it.
I feel like -- you know on Tinder
when guys hold, like, a fish in their photo?
I feel like that right now.
Now, I'm going to be honest here,
that is not a realistic serving size
for a strapping young lad such as myself.
What I'm going to do is pour out
what I would consider to be a normal bowl,
and then we'll weigh that to see what it comes to.
So, my actual realistic serving ended up being
almost exactly double the 30 grams,
coming in at around 60 grams.
57.5. OK, this is 60.
If I was using a bowl,
I think this is exactly what I would pour for myself.
'Cause I feel like what people do,
you fill the entire bowl of cereal,
and then you fill it up with milk.
But the thing I, for some reason, do,
is I eat my cereal out of a cup. Like, a mug.
I like that it's deeper.
So I'll put that in,
and so I don't know what the equivalent of that would be.
But, yeah, cereal out of a mug.
It's, like, it's fun.
The first thing to point out here
is that I really gaslit myself
and was convinced that we had Honey Nut Cheerios in the UK.
However, when I then looked into it,
I found that instead, they're just Honey Cheerios
and I'd imagined the whole thing.
Although our cameraman, Charlie,
today was convinced of the same thing,
so maybe there's just some butterfly effect
that's going on.
Honey Cheerios in the UK come in six portion sizes,
starting with this one.
It's a 30-gram box.
And, again, it only comes as part of a multipack.
From there, we go up to a 280-gram box.
While I was looking for the portions,
I found both a 370-gram box
as well as this 375-gram box.
It looks like this one,
maybe they are trying to use less packaging
but have taken that opportunity to give you
a few less Cheerios as well.
Who knows?
Our next size is this one,
which is a 515-gram box.
And then, finally, our largest Cheerios box is this one,
which is 575 grams.
Honey Nut Cheerios in the US come in five sizes.
We have the 1.8-ounce,
or 51-gram, mini cup.
The classic 10.8-ounce box.
The 18.8-ounce family size.
The 29.4-ounce mega size.
[bag crunching]
And, lastly, a 32-ounce,
or 907-gram, bag.
That makes the largest US option
57% larger than the UK's.
The recommended serving size for Cheerios
in the UK is, again, 30 grams.
That means that our largest box contains around 19 servings.
In the US, the recommended serving size is 1 cup.
See, that's why you should eat it out of a cup. Get it?
Which should weigh around 37 grams.
That's a 23% increase on the UK.
And the most servings you can get in a US container
would be around 24.5,
which is almost a 30% increase on the UK,
because of course.
But once again, it seems like 30 grams
is just a really unrealistic serving size.
I think, again, I'm eating much closer to 60 grams.
Does that look about right to you, Irene?
[cereal clinking]
Yeah. I agree with Harry.
This is, again, it's -- you need to fill the bowl.
So apparently filling the bowl means 60 grams, so.
No one's pouring out 37 grams of Cheerios.
This is, I think this is how much
normal people are pouring out.
So realistically, you're only actually getting
nine and a half servings out of the UK's largest box.
Whereas we're getting 15 servings from our largest bag.
Wow, you guys are getting kind of ripped off.
Unfortunately, we don't have any exclusive Frosties
in the UK.
Here are all the Frosted Flakes from the US
that you won't find in the UK.
We have the chocolate Frosted Flakes,
Frosted Flakes with marshmallows,
Frosted Flakes Cinnamon Basketballs,
honey nut Frosted Flakes,
Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops mash-up.
This is limited edition.
And the Tiger Paws Jumbo Snax.
Eh, I'll try one of the basketballs.
Tastes like cinnamon.
I don't think it's that good.
Shaq will put his face on literally anything.
Look at that smile he has on that face right there.
That's that, "I'm getting paid! Whoo!"
He's hanging out with Tony the Tiger. Right?
He also does a commercial with the General.
"Space Jam" should have been that.
It should have been Shaq with all the cartoon characters
of products that he advertises with.
It'd be Shaq, the General, Tony the Tiger,
a can of Arizona iced tea.
What else is he doing?
That would have been a much better movie.
This, this is exciting.
This is a fake novelty.
This is a real novelty.
These are literally like Lucky Charms.
I'm only eating the marshmallows.
And you know it would turn the milk, like, purple or pink,
or, like, a weird, ugly color,
but it would taste so good.
I'm sorry you can't have this, Harry.
You know what? It's probably banned in the UK
because of the hormones
or, like, artificial products anyway.
These are interesting.
Oh, my God! OK.
This looks like the baby cereal.
Like the baby snacks or like the toddler snacks.
They are! It looks like the baby cereal.
It's like --
but it's a little bit bigger.
Very exciting.
[crunching]
It's not dry. It's not as sweet.
I would add more sugar to this. [laughs]
I have, like, my dipping sugar.
Unfortunately, we don't have any exclusive Cheerio options
in the UK.
Here are all the Cheerios you'll find in the US
but not in the UK.
Here we have the more fruity flavors.
Blueberry Cheerios, apple cinnamon Cheerios,
multigrain Cheerios with strawberries,
Very Berry Cheerios,
chocolate strawberry Cheerios,
and fruity Cheerios.
Is this supposed to be like their take on Froot Loops?
Like healthy Froot Loops?
No.
We have pumpkin spice Cheerios,
Honey Nut Cheerios medley,
cinnamon Cheerios,
maple Cheerios,
frosted Cheerios,
chocolate peanut butter Cheerios,
Cheerios Oat Crunch oats and honey,
and Cheerios Oat Crunch almond.
We weren't able to get our hands
on the limited-edition flavors
toasted coconut, peach, and banana nut.
I'm a big pumpkin spice girl.
I think it's good.
Mm, smells like fall.
Honestly, I don't even know if it was that good
or I'm just like, it's pumpkin spice,
so I'm just automatically thinking
it smells and tastes good.
But I think this would be amazing.
Here are some British cereals
which you won't find in the US.
Here are some cereals you won't find in the UK.
Let's start with a US classic, Lucky Charms.
I do think they are a classic,
and the marshmallows are really good.
They do taste very artificial,
but they're supposed to taste artificial.
And I stand by that.
I've never had Lucky Charms before.
I had to go to one of those American shops
on Oxford Street to get one.
So are those all marshmallows, all those colorful things?
It tastes like a marshmallow, but it's, like, crunchy?
Marshmallows aren't supposed to be crispy, guys.
I'd be lying if I said those weren't good.
That is good.
Everything about the design of this is just to, like,
make a child go, "Oh, my God, I need this."
Yes, American cereal boxes look like slot machines.
That is by design.
So, next up we've got Froot Loops.
I think Froot Loops is one of those cereals you can eat dry,
because they have enough flavor to them.
Now look, the colors are so fun.
Look how fun that is.
Something's wrong with this one.
They didn't used to taste like this.
[gasps] They used to use artificial red dye,
and they switched to a natural one.
They went too natural.
Also never tried these.
I like the toucan guy. He's cool.
Whoo! Jesus Christ! [laughs]
The smell of those!
Whoo-hooh! What is that?
Charlie: Smells like soap, or like shower gel.
Yeah.
Like a tropical shampoo.
Charlie: Like a cheap bodywash.
No, I don't like that.
The same acidic smell that I got,
you can taste that as well.
And that is not something that you want with milk.
And, finally, Cap'n Crunch.
I think the other
traditional sugary cereals are just superior to it.
This is just so, like,
it doesn't offer anything, you know?
Ugh.
You can see where all the Yellow 5
and Yellow 6 are going.
[crunching]
They are crunchy, as the name suggests.
They're pretty good.
It's between these or Lucky Charms.
Froot Loops for me are awful.
Never -- stop eating those.
We'll start with a personal favorite of mine,
which is Golden Nuggets.
I'm a little surprised you don't have these in the US,
because the kind of advert campaign
was based around prospecting and the gold rush.
So we've got a little mascot gold miner guy,
who I think his name was, like,
Prospector Pete or something like that.
I do feel like they used to be brighter than that. Yeah.
But they've got rid of the catchphrase and also, yeah,
demoted the mascot to the back of the pack.
The catchphrase when I remember growing up with these
was, "They taste yeehaw!"
OK, "They taste yeehaw."
What would be the UK equivalent of that in America?
British Parliament Flakes.
What'd you just say?
Parliament Pops. They taste jolly good.
I don't think they taste quite as yeehaw
as I remember from my childhood,
but it's still, like, a solid
mid to low level of yeehaw.
Next up, we've got Weetabix.
Now, I personally love Weetabix,
but I will say it's quite a boring cereal.
If you imagine the kind of archetypal,
really boring, gray British breakfast,
it's probably one of these.
It's literally just compressed wheat
with a very small amount of sugar
and I think some enriched vitamins and minerals.
Like, they have no right to be as good as they are,
but they are just good.
Like, I can't explain why.
As long as the milk is really cold,
so that you get the crisp that's maintained.
To me, that's just pure nostalgia.
So, we got
Harry's
British cereal.
I'm very confused by this.
Scared.
I'm going to follow Harry's tutorial.
OK.
I don't think you can just call something cereal
because you're pouring milk on top of it.
And I feel like that's what's happening here.
Like, this kind of feels like
if I were to get a granola bar
and pour milk on top of it
and I was going to be like,
"Oh, I'm eating cereal now."
I don't want to say it tastes like cardboard,
but it tastes like cardboard.
My childhood was Fruity Pebbles. I'm sorry.
It was rainbows and unicorns and magical flavors.
If you did want a slightly more exciting
version of Weetabix,
then they do have flavored ones as well.
For example, these are the classic biscuits
but banana flavored.
There are also some classic ones but chocolate flavored.
Then they have a few other options as well,
such as these ones, which are chocolate melts.
So it's kind of like a Weetabix outside layer,
but then with a little bit of chocolate inside.
And these come with milk chocolate
or with white chocolate.
And then, finally, maybe my favorite cereal ever,
Weetabix crispy minis.
These things are incredible.
It's little bite-size versions of Weetabix
with a bunch of chocolate chips in them.
Honestly, God-tier cereal.
This is supposed to be, like, the treat version.
Food is supposed to make you feel better.
A final UK exclusive for today are Weetos.
Now, not so much of a fan of these myself.
They're kind of like Cheerios
in that they're a ring shape,
however they're a little bit bigger,
a little bit more puffy and airy.
And, personally, I just don't love that,
'cause when you're eating them with the milk,
they go a little bit more soggy more quickly.
Yeah, I'm sure some people like them, but not myself.
This is a more realistic serving of 60 grams
of Frosted Flakes.
If we do some quick math,
we can figure out that the nutrition for this
is as follows:
210 calories;
0 grams of fat;
53.4 grams of carbs,
19.2 grams of which are sugar;
1.62 grams of fiber;
and 307 milligrams of sodium.
So, here's everything that's in
60 grams of Frosties in the UK:
225 calories;
0.36 grams of fat,
of which 0.06 grams are saturated;
carbs, 52.2 grams,
of which 22.2 grams are sugar;
fiber, 1.4 grams;
and 232 milligrams of sodium.
The final thing to note
is that these values don't include milk.
So, in the States,
we have a few different types of milk
with varying fat content.
Skim milk, which has 0% fat;
1% milk; 2% milk;
and then whole milk, which is around 3.25% fat.
For this example, we're going to use 2% milk.
In the UK, we don't refer to our milks by fat percentage.
Instead, we call them skimmed, semi-skimmed,
and whole milk.
They're around 0%, 2%, and 3.5% fat, respectively.
For this example, we'll use semi-skimmed milk.
So, in the UK, we also standardize the colors of our milk.
So green is always semi-skimmed,
blue is always whole milk,
and red is skimmed milk.
Whereas I spoke to a few American friends,
and those are just, like, all over the place
depending on where in the country you are.
And it seems like an absolute minefield.
So, in the US, 100 milliliters of 2% milk
contains the following:
50 calories;
2.08 grams of total fat,
1.25 grams of which are saturated;
5 grams of carbs,
of which 5 grams are sugar,
so all the carbs are sugar;
and 52 milligrams of sodium.
In the UK, 100 milliliters of semi-skimmed milk
contains the following:
50 calories;
1.8 grams of fat,
of which 1.1 grams are saturated;
4.8 grams of carbs,
of which 4.8 grams are sugar;
and 40 milligrams of sodium.
Our research suggests that the average bowl of cereal
contains around 200 milliliters of milk.
So these figures need to be doubled.
Harry: Then we can add those stats to our
realistic 60-gram serving,
and our final tally looks something like this.
So, the same bowl in the US would contain this.
So the UK version is actually more calorific
and more sugary.
While the US version has more fat, total carbs, and sodium.
Because of course we do.
The main thing to watch out for here
is, of course, the sugar.
The recommended daily added sugar intake for an adult
is 50 grams, and this contains over 60% of that.
We're going to measure it out for you now,
so you can see just how much sugar is in one of these bowls.
Oh, my God, stop eating so much sugar!
I feel like this is bad to say,
but this isn't as much sugar as I thought there would be.
I thought there would be more.
And, like, sometimes I add more sugar to my cereal,
so, like ...
Cereal is meant to be sugary! I stand by that.
So it's like,
I don't trust people who eat, like, Raisin Bran.
Raisin Bran people can't be trusted.
This is probably about as much sugar I add to my coffee, so.
Look at --
OK, this is a little bit more sugar than I would do.
My stomach hurts just watching this.
This is genuinely good to me.
The 31.8 grams of sugar in this bowl of Frosties
is actually less than
three American glazed ring Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
So,
yeah, I guess you can just eat those for breakfast instead.
Here's the nutritional info
for a 60-gram bowl of Honey Cheerios in the UK.
And here are the values
for a 60-gram Honey Nut Cheerio bowl in the US.
Here's how the values change if we add milk.
So this bowl only contains around
16% of your daily calories,
but once again,
it's the sugar you need to watch out for.
There's almost 60% of your daily sugar allowance in here.
It's not quite as bad in the UK,
at just 46% of your daily sugar.
But that is still quite a lot for your breakfast.
But good news for the UK is that we somehow have
45% less sodium than the US bowl.
Here are all the ingredients in Frosties in the UK.
Maize, sugar, barley malt flavouring, salt,
vitamins and minerals:
niacin, iron,
B6, B2, B1, folic acid,
vitamin D, and vitamin B12.
Yes, we pronounce it vih-tamins, not vye-tamins.
Here are all the ingredients in Frosted Flakes in the US.
Milled corn, sugar, malt flavor, salt,
vitamins and minerals:
iron, niacinamide,
vitamin B6, vitamin B2,
vitamin B1, folic acid,
vitamin D3, and vitamin B12.
The differences here are actually just linguistic.
In practical terms, those are basically identical lists.
Things get more interesting
when we move away from classic Frosted Flakes.
Take these Frosted Flakes
with crispy cinnamon basketballs for example.
Here's the ingredients list for these.
Two things to watch out for here.
Firstly, Yellow 6.
This is a food coloring
which is used to give things a yellowy-orange color,
but you're unlikely to see it
on any ingredients list in the UK.
It was flagged in a 2008 study as one of six colorings
that may be linked to hyperactivity in kids.
If it's in a UK food product,
it must come with a warning that
it "may have an adverse effect on activity
and attention in children."
The other ingredient to watch out for here is BHT,
or butylated hydroxytoluene.
This is an antioxidant
which is used to keep foods fresh.
Outside of food use, some use it to treat herpes.
If that's not enough to put you off,
there are also some studies which have suggested
that BHT causes rats to develop tumors.
Yay. [children cheering]
There's actually very little evidence
to suggest that it could do the same to humans,
but its use is still restricted in places like Australia,
and certain companies such as General Mills
have voluntarily taken steps to remove it
from all their products.
Here's everything in Honey Cheerios in the UK.
Here's everything in Honey Nut Cheerios in the US.
These are pretty similar lists
with a few minor differences.
In the UK, we seem to put a bit more emphasis on the grains,
with wheat, barley, maize, and rice all being involved,
compared to just oats in the US.
While we're doing a cereal episode,
we may as well look at the milk used
in both the UK and the US.
You may have seen certain headlines
suggesting that US milk is actually
banned in the European Union.
That's not completely correct,
but there are some differences to note
which do cause issues with imports.
The first issue is due to something called somatic cells.
These are basically just the white blood cells
which cows will produce to fight infections
when they get sick.
If you have a higher somatic cell count in your milk,
it's probably a sign that it came from a less healthy cow.
The general limit for a healthy cow
is considered to be around 100,000 cells per milliliter,
with 200,000 getting towards mastitis territory,
which is when the udders get infected.
For milk to be sold in the European Union,
the somatic cell count can't be any higher than
400,000 cells per milliliter.
But in the US, it's almost double that.
You guys have an upper threshold of
750,000 cells per milliliter,
which means that in general,
you guys tolerate much sicker cows than we do
in the UK and the EU.
[laughing] Not the sicker cows.
I feel like every time we do one of these,
it's basically just the UK being like,
"So, you guys don't standardize anything
and you don't regulate anything."
And we're like,
"Yeah."
The one chocolate chip in my palate
really makes me feel really happy.
I don't need sugar or flavors or color.