General Mills Introduces Total Protein Low Carb Cereal & Low Carb Kid's Review

Wow, the way I found out about this product was seeing it in the Stop & Shop Circular. The only mention of the cereal on the General Mills site was in a press release about General Mills talking to consumer analysts. (Basically, they are getting "pushed to the wall" because of the bakery division. Low carbing can cause change!) Anyhow, within this piece they also talk about Progresso Carb Monitor Soup. They talk about Light and Lite products too, but I have no idea if they are low carb. All we need is another low fat yogurt though, huh?

The Total Protein Cereal has 13 grams of protein and 8 grams of net carbs. This could be good for breading too.... Lots of neat potential.

Now, who knows if this will taste like cardboard or not. Cereal tastes are so subjective. My husband can't abide the Atkins cereals, but he loves Hi-Lo with cream and berries. I just met an old work pal, and she can't stand Hi-Lo. (I told her to try it with the berries and cream (grin.))

Anyhow, I'm sure we will be trying it in our household. Let me know if you like it!

Update: The kids tried it this morning. (I picked up a box at Shaws. It was over $4 a box. Cheaper than Atkins most of the time, but these prices have to start coming down.)

Both kids liked it! My daughter ate it with milk (well, Carb Countdown, actually), and my son ate it plain. (He drank his Carb Countdown on the side.)

This is a miracle! My kids even like separate low carb bagel brands, but they both like this cereal! They both thought it had sugar on it.... and they ate all of it.

My son even asked to try it when he saw it on the shelf. I had purchased it for my husband. I didn't think that the kids would want to try it... it is Total, for goodness sake, not exactly a kid's brand to my mind! But, my poor son is so cereal deprived -- he goes to the grocery store and sees all these lucious sugar-loaded cereals that he can never have -- to see a box of name-brand cereal that wasn't Cheerios on his own kitchen counter -- well, it was the holy grail!

Not to say that I haven't tried other low carb cereals on him. They don't like them. They don't like Hi-Lo, Atkins, Barbara's, etc.

When my husband tries it, I'll let you know what he thinks.

Update: Husband still prefers Hi-Lo with cream and berries, but he ate practically a whole box. Daughter now has decided that she doesn't like it, but my son still likes it!

Update: See this Total Protein versus Kellogg's Special K for a low carb lifestyle post for more....

Comments

[julie]

Yes!!!!! More low carb cereals! I have tried Hi-Lo and it's fine for me. I'll be looking for the Total Protein. And how about some low carb crackers in the supermarkets...I need something to pile my dips and cheese upon. I buy Cheeters crackers online at Netrition, but I would love to see low carb Ritz, Saltines, Wheat Thins, Triscuits, etc. in the stores.

[Bria Mcpherson]

I hate total cerael!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There alway giving people 15 bowles of cerael whean they only asked for 1 and I said ONE bowle of ceral . If they dont whant your cerael to bad its not good to them.Could you all PLEASE PLEASE change the commercale,because that just get on my nervs!!

P.S and I'm only 11 years old.I have my core valuse to say what I want to say,which is freedom of speech.
Thank your time.

[Gena]

I tried Total protein cereal this morning and to me its just awful!! There's no getting around the lack of "cereal" taste, the protein powder aftertaste and the unnatural crunch. I didn't expect it to taste like reg hi carb cereal but really, its pretty bad. Digusted, I left the whole bowl on the counter and when I came back later, the flakes had expanded but didn't absorb much of the milk (go figure). I'd rather have a high protein oatmeal or something that can be heated with some butter and milk or half-n-half added to kill some of that taste!

I do like Barbara's.

[Gena]

Had to post this, this describes Total Protein cereal so succintly! (snatched from another forum)

Posted by: D. Wade

New from General Mills, in the Total brand line.

Label Info:

Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Calories: 120
Fat: 3.5g (no saturated)
Carbs: 11g
Fiber 3g
Sugar: 2g
Other: 6g
Protein: 13g

Impressions:

Begins with a nice, crispy sweet taste that combines well with the milk. This quickly descends into an experience reminiscent of chewing on carpet backing. Strangely enough, this taste seems to wax and wane the longer it sits in milk, but the closer you get to the end of the bowl (please god, make it soon) the more it starts to suck.

By the end of the first bowl, my jaw was hurting worse than John Holmes' fluffer.

Verdict: Well...13 grams of protein - but sweet jesus did they make a crappy eating experience. Supposedly almond piece in it (?). I think they tried too hard to make it whole grainy, then tried to cram too much protein. If they would have made it a more pleasant experience, I would have just eaten 3 or 4 bowls, instead of looking for the ammunition by the end of the first bowl.

I will probably choke the rest of these 2 boxes down, just because I can lie to myself that it is healthy (they pulled the old Maltitol trick), but I doubt I will purchase this again.

[Tanya]

I LOVE Total Protein cereal. I've tried other low-carb cereals: they taste like sawdust & cardboard, & quickly degenerated in milk. Gross! But Total Protein stays crunchy til the bottom of the bowl, & it's just lightly sweetened taste means I don't have to put any sugar on it. Now I can't find it in any of my local stores & I'm going nuts! I can only eat so many eggs, & I don't like tuna or salmon (my co-workers eat some strange things for breakfast at work). I hope my local stores start carrying it again, SOON!

[This]

ARGH! Apparently total discontinued their Total Protein cereal... and im pissed! I cant find it anywhere. It was the one low-carb/high-protein cereal whose primary source of protein was whey, not soy. For men, whey is a much better choice than soy. But besides that, i actually liked how it tasted! Dont even get me started on how great the nutritional info was, either. No other cereal can come close to it. Cmon general mills, bring it back! :(

[MARY KRIER]

I realy would like to try this but can't find it..