Food
Honey Nut Cheerios
NOVA 4 · ultra-processed
Chemistry breakdown
Bar length = weight in the Food formula · color = that component's score · tap a name to learn what it means.
Scored from 90% of the formula's weight. The rest doesn't apply to this product.
Pesticide residue7.4/10 · 35% weight
Residues left on produce and grains from how the crop was farmed. Organic certification prohibits synthetic pesticides, which is why the same fruit can rate very differently by farming method.
Additives7/10 · 25% weight
Preservatives, colorants, emulsifiers and flavorings added in processing — each rated on its own evidence record, from benign (vitamin E as a preservative) to contested (certain synthetic dyes).
Ultra-processing (NOVA)3/10 · 20% weight
The NOVA scale classifies how industrially transformed a food is, from whole ingredients (1) to ultra-processed formulations (4). Population studies associate heavy ultra-processed diets with worse health outcomes independent of nutrients.
Oils & refined sugars5.9/10 · 10% weight
Refined oils and added sugars — rated by what they are: cold-pressed fruit oils and whole sweeteners like honey rate well; hydrogenated oils and high-fructose syrups rate poorly.
Certificationsnone claimed · 10% weight
Independent third-party verifications (USDA Organic, FSC, EPA Safer Choice…). Informational only — having none never lowers a score; verified claims can raise it.
Ingredients · 21
In label order — the first-listed ingredient counts most in the score. Tap any row for its sources.
- 9Whole Grain Oats#1 · Grain
- 6Cane Sugar#2 · Sweetener
- ?oat bran#3 · Grain
- 5Corn Starch#4 · Grain
- 8Honey#5 · Sweetener
- 3Brown Sugar Syrup#6 · Sweetener
- 8Salt (Sodium Chloride)#7 · Other
- 7tripotassium phosphate#8 · Vitamin Mineral
- 6Canola Oil#9 · Oil
- 7Natural Almond Flavor#10 · Flavor
- 8Tocopherols (Vitamin E)#11 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Calcium Carbonate#12 · Personal Care Active
- 8zinc and iron (mineral nutrients)#13 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)#14 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8vitamin b6#16 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)#17 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8vitamin b1 (thiamin mononitrate)#18 · Vitamin Mineral
- 6Retinol (Vitamin A)#19 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8A B Vitamin (niacinamide)#20 · Vitamin Mineral
- 8vitamin B12#21 · Vitamin Mineral
- 7VITAMIN D3#22 · Vitamin Mineral
Made by
- 2018-08Glyphosate residues reported in oat products — EWG laboratory testing reported glyphosate in Cheerios and other oat cereals and publicised the results widely. The levels reported were BELOW the EPA tolerance for glyphosate on oats; EWG applied its own far stricter benchmark, which is a health-protective choice rather than a legal threshold. No regulator found a violation and no court made a liability finding. Recorded because the residue is real and consumers ask about it — not because a finding exists.
- 2017Artificial colours returned to Trix after removal — General Mills removed artificial colours and flavours from Trix in 2016, then reinstated a version with them in 2017 after consumer complaints about the reformulated product. This is a commercial reversal, not a safety incident, and is recorded so the 2016 reformulation is not read as a permanent commitment.