Trading Up Downtown

Hello everyone!  I am Ashley from Food, Fotos, and Fun!

Tina has graciously given me the opportunity to do a guest post about NuVal at my local Hy-Vee in Ames, IA.  I decided to focus on cereal since it is one of the few things I buy as a college student living in the dorms and eating in the cafeteria for 14 meals a week! I decided to start my little adventure in the Health Foods section of the store (called the Hy-Vee Health Market).

For the most part, the NuVal scores in this area were higher than in the regular cereal section, BUT not as high as I thought when looking at the boxes.  Also, when you’re a college student, the price is pretty important, so I’m going to do a little comparison of that too!  First, just so you know, the score range for cereal is 4-100, with the median being 25.  Cereals with higher NuVal scores tend to have more whole grains and fiber and less sodium and sugar.

• Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs: $3.09, NuVal score 90
• Kashi U: $4.99, NuVal score 41
• Kashi Island Vanilla: $4.39, NuVal score 36
• Kashi Honey Sunshine: $4.39, NuVal score 31
• Kashi Good Friends Cinna-Raisin Crunch: $4.29, NuVal score 24
• Kashi Strawberry Fields: $4.29, NuVal score 11
• Alpen: $4.49, NuVal score 87
• Shredded Wheat Original (18oz): $3.99, NuVal score 91
• Shredded Wheat Wheat’n Bran (15oz): $3.99, NuVal score 91
• Hy-Vee Shredded Wheat (17.2oz): $2.49, NuVal score 89
• Mom’s Best Naturals Toasted Wheat-fuls (24oz): $2.79, NuVal score 91
• Mom’s Best Naturals Mallow-Oats: $2.79, NuVal score 15
• Peanut Butter Bumpers: $4.69, NuVal score 14

Some key things I’d like to point out from this list.  First is the surprise that Kashi Strawberry Fields has a LOWEST score of the cereals I looked at – even lower than the Mallow-Oats!

Second is the fact that just because something is natural or organic and located in the Health Foods section does not mean it’s all that healthy, such as with the Peanut Butter Bumpers that advertise that they’re made with “real natural peanut butter.”  Also, the Peanut Butter Bumpers were quite pricy considering their nutritional value!

Third, I’d like to look at costs comparisons, specifically with the shredded wheat cereals, all of which had great scores from 89 to 91.  The Post brand was the most expensive, and therefore taken off my list. BUT, the next best buy would actually be Mom’s Best Naturals Toasted Wheat-fuls, NOT Hy-Vee Shredded Wheat because Mom’s Best gives you more ounces for the price! It pays to comparison shop!  And here are just a few of the pictures I took (while shoppers eyed me as though I was some crazy out-of-towner) for you to peruse:

Thanks for reading!  Feel free to check out my personal food blog Food, Fotos, and Fun!

Category: Guest Posts, Score Surprises, Uncategorized by Tina