Cheerios is a brand of
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
manufactured by
General Mills
General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...
in the United States, consisting of pulverized
oat
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
s in the shape of a
solid torus
In mathematics, a solid torus is the topological space formed by sweeping a disk around a circle. It is homeomorphic to the Cartesian product S^1 \times D^2 of the disk and the circle, endowed with the product topology.
A standard way to visuali ...
. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by
Cereal Partners
Cereal Partners Worldwide S.A. is a joint venture between General Mills and Nestlé, established in 1991 to produce breakfast cereals. The company is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and markets cereals in more than 130 countries (exc ...
under the
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
brand; in Australia and New Zealand, Cheerios is sold as an
Uncle Tobys
Uncle Tobys is an Australian food manufacturing company which specialises in breakfast oat products. Since its foundation in 1861, the company has expanded its product range across the cereal and ready-to-eat snack market. Uncle Tobys is currentl ...
product. It was first manufactured in 1941 as CheeriOats.
History
Cheerios was introduced on May 2, 1941, as "Cheerioats". The name was shortened to "Cheerios" on December 2, 1945 after a competing cereal manufacturer,
Quaker Oats
The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001.
History Precursor miller companies
In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. S ...
, claimed to hold the rights to use the term "oats".
Cheerios' production was based upon the extrusion process invented for
Kix in 1937. The oat flour process starts in Minneapolis before being shipped to factories in Iowa, Georgia and Buffalo, New York.
In July 3, 1976, "Cinnamon Nut Cheerios" was the first departure from the original flavor of Cheerios, over 30 years after the cereal was created, the second was "
Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by Yandel Gonzalez, who was in the General Mills cereal company.
Honey Nut Cheerios is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor. While Honey Nut ...
", introduced in March 1, 1979. General Mills sold approximately 1.8 million cases of Honey Nut Cheerios in its first year.
Since their introduction, Cheerios have become a popular
baby food
Baby food is any soft easily consumed food other than breastmilk or infant formula that is made specifically for human babies between four and six months and two years old. The food comes in many varieties and flavors that are purchased ready-mad ...
. Generally first fed to children aged 9–12 months, Cheerios serve to help infants transition to eating solid food, as well as develop fine motor skills.
Ingredients
In January 2014, General Mills announced that it would halt the use of
genetically modified
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the gene ...
ingredients in original Cheerios. However, General Mills notes for Original Cheerios that "trace amounts of genetically modified (also known as 'genetically engineered') material may be present due to potential cross contact during manufacturing and shipping". In February 2015, the company announced that it would be making Cheerios totally gluten-free by removing the traces of wheat, rye, and barley that usually come into contact with the oat supply used to make Cheerios during transportation to the General Mills plant in
Buffalo,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, along
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
.
Advertising
Many television commercials for Cheerios have targeted children, featuring animated characters (such as a
Honeybee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmo ...
).
Bullwinkle was featured in early 1960s commercials, with the tag line at the end of the ad being "Go with Cheerios!" followed by Bullwinkle, usually worse for wear due to his Cheerios-inspired bravery somewhat backfiring, saying "...but watch where you're going!"
Hoppity Hooper
''Hoppity Hooper'' is an American animated television series produced by Jay Ward, and sponsored by General Mills, originally broadcast on ABC from September 12, 1964 until 1967. The series was produced in Hollywood by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, ...
was also featured in ads in the mid-1960s; General Mills was the primary sponsor of his animated program.
Cheeri O'Leary
This cartoon character, a cheery young girl, was seen in 1942–1943 magazine advertising and in Sunday newspaper's comics sections. These ads were multi-panel cartoons where Cheeri O'Leary interacted with entertainers of the day, including
Charlotte Greenwood
Frances Charlotte Greenwood (June 25, 1890 – December 28, 1977) was an American actress and dancer. Born in Philadelphia, Greenwood started in vaudeville, and starred on Broadway, movies and radio. Standing almost six feet tall (some sour ...
,
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
,
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...
,
Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...
,
Johnny Mack Brown
John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western (genre), Western films.
Early lif ...
,
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007)
was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer.
Early life and education
Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg on February 2 ...
, and
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...
.
The Cheerios Kid
Beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing through the early 1960s, "The Cheerios Kid" was a mainstay in Cheerios commercials. The Kid, after eating Cheerios, quickly dealt with whatever problem presented in the commercial, using oat-produced "Big-G, little-o" "Go-power." By the late 1960s, there was a jingle called "Get Yourself Go" (written by
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
), which played as the two use go power to solve the problem. The character was revived briefly in the late 1980s in similar commercials. In 2012, The Cheerios Kid and sidekick Sue were revived in an internet video that showed how Cheerios "can lower cholesterol."
Video clips of "the Kid" and Sue are part of a montage included in a 2014 TV commercial, along with clips of the
Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by Yandel Gonzalez, who was in the General Mills cereal company.
Honey Nut Cheerios is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor. While Honey Nut ...
bee's early commercials.
''Peanuts''
In 1984 and 1985, characters from the comic strip ''
Peanuts
''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
'' were featured in many Cheerios commercials. In the commercials, the characters become tired in the middle of performing an activity (e.g. taking a dance lesson, playing tennis), but then another character tells them that they did not have a healthy Cheerios breakfast. Then, at the end of the commercial, the character would be energized, followed by children singing "You're on your toes with Cheerios!"
Spoonfuls of Stories
The Spoonfuls of Stories program, begun in 2002, is sponsored by Cheerios and a 50/50 joint venture of General Mills and
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
. Mini-sized versions of Simon & Schuster children's books are published within the program when the book drive occurs.
The program also includes a New Author contest; winners' books are published in miniature inside boxes of Cheerios.
Shawn Johnson
In 2009, Olympic gold medalist and World Champion gymnast
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson East (born Shawn Machel Johnson; January 19, 1992) is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic balance beam gold medalist and team, all-around and floor exercise silver medalist. Johnson is also the 2007 al ...
became the first athlete to have her photo featured on the front of the Cheerios box. The limited edition was distributed in the Midwestern region of the United States by the
Hy-Vee
Hy-Vee, Inc. () is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and soon Indiana, Kentucky, ...
grocery store chain.
Just Checking
In 2013, a Cheerios commercial aired, titled "Just Checking," showcasing an
interracial family in which a daughter asks her mother (white) if Cheerios is good for the heart, as her father (black) mentioned. The mother says the cereal is good according to the box which states that the whole grain oats lower cholesterol. The next scene features the father waking up as a pile of Cheerios spill down his chest, which the daughter placed there having taken her father's words literally. The commercial received unintentional notoriety due to the racist anger at the commercial showing a biracial family. This was so extreme that General Mills disabled further comments on the video. In 2014, General Mills released a
Super Bowl ad
Super Bowl commercials, colloquially known as Super Bowl ads, are high-profile television advertisement, television commercials featured in the U.S. television broadcast of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (N ...
titled "Gracie," featuring the same family: in the commercial, the father, using Cheerios to illustrate his meaning, tells the daughter that a new baby is coming, that her mother is pregnant, and the daughter accepts this—as long as they also get a puppy—and the father agrees, while the mother looks a little surprised.
Vortexx
To promote the premiere of the
Vortexx
Vortexx was a short-lived American Saturday morning children's television programming block that aired on The CW from August 25, 2012 to September 27, 2014. Programmed by Saban Brands, it replaced Toonzai, a block that was programmed by 4Kids Ent ...
Saturday morning block on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
Television Network in August 2012, special boxes of Cheerios were branded as "Vortexx O's," complete with the schedule on the back, and the wordmark plastered on one of the Vortexx promotional backgrounds. Toys were also included in the box, featuring
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied w ...
,
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
, and the Pink
Power Ranger
''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Enter ...
.
Good Goes Around
In 2017,
Latrell James was hired to sing a song for a new Cheerios commercial, with the refrain "Good goes around and around and around."
Murray the Brave
In May 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...
, it partnered with
Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada (formerly the Canadian Association of Food Banks) is a charitable organization representing the food bank community across Canada. Founded in 1987, Food Banks Canada’s network is made up of 10 Provincial Associations and over ...
to do a tribute to food bank workers.
Return of "Cheerioats" for 80th Anniversary
Beginning in July 2021, a limited re-release of Cheerios cereal was made across North American markets with the reuse of the original brand name "Cheerioats" instead of "Cheerios." Cheerioats used the same ingredients as modern day Cheerios, but was repackaged in a throwback campaign to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Cheerios cereals being sold (1941–2021).
Products
; Cereals
* Cheerios (originally named Cheerioats) (1941)
* Cinnamon Nut Cheerios (1976)
*
Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by Yandel Gonzalez, who was in the General Mills cereal company.
Honey Nut Cheerios is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor. While Honey Nut ...
(1979)
* Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (1988)
* MultiGrain Cheerios (Original in the UK) (released 1992, relaunched 2009)
* Frosted Cheerios (1995) (not related to Frosty O's)
* Yogurt Burst Cheerios (variations include vanilla and strawberry) (2005)
* Fruity Cheerios (2006) (Cheerios sweetened with fruit juice)
* Oat Cluster Crunch Cheerios (2007) (sweetened Cheerios with oat clusters)
* Banana Nut Cheerios (2009) (sweetened Cheerios made with banana puree)
* Chocolate Cheerios (2010) (Cheerios made with cocoa)
* Cinnamon Burst Cheerios (2011) (Cheerios made with cinnamon)
* MultiGrain Peanut Butter Cheerios (2012) (Multigrain Cheerios with sorghum, not wheat, and peanut butter)
* Multi Grain Cheerios Dark Chocolate Crunch (2013)
* Cheerios Protein (variations include Oats & Honey and Cinnamon Almond) (2014)
* Ancient Grain Cheerios (2015) (sweetened Cheerios made with "
ancient grains
Ancient grains is a marketing term used to describe a category of grains and pseudocereals that are purported to have been minimally changed by selective breeding over recent millennia, as opposed to more widespread cereals such as corn, rice and ...
like kamut wheat, spelt, and quinoa")
* Pumpkin Spice Cheerios (sweetened Cheerios made with pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie spices) (2016) (limited edition)
* Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios (a blend of two types of sweetened Cheerios, one with a cocoa coating, the other with peanut butter) (Limited Edition in 2016, made permanent 2017)
* Strawberry Cheerios (sweetened Cheerios made with strawberry purée) (2017) (Limited Edition)
* Very Berry Cheerios (sweetened Cheerios with strawberry, blueberry and raspberry flavors) (2017)
* Peach Cheerios (sweetened Cheerios made with peach purée) (2018) (Limited Edition)
* Blueberry Cheerios (with blueberry purée concentrate) (2019)
* Maple Cheerios (sweetened with maple syrup) (2017 in Canada, 2019 in the United States)
* Cinnamon Cheerios (made with cinnamon) (2020)
* Frosted Vanilla Cheerios (2021 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
only)
* Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios (limited edition) (2021)
; Snacks
*Cheerios Snack Mix – Original (2008) (Cheerios, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, round crackers, pretzels and cracker sticks flavored with garlic and onion)
*Cheerios Snack Mix – Cheese (2008) (Cheerios, Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, triangle crackers, pretzels and cracker sticks flavored with cheese)
; Licensed products
* Crispy Oats (manufactured by Millville, distributed by
ALDI
Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...
)
* Purely O's (Organic Cheerios, manufactured by General Mills subsidiary
Cascadian Farms) (1999)
* Oat Cheerios (Republic of Ireland only, manufactured by
Cereal Partners Worldwide
Cereal Partners Worldwide S.A. is a joint venture between General Mills and Nestlé, established in 1991 to produce breakfast cereals. The company is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and markets cereals in more than 130 countries (excep ...
, sold under the
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
brand)
Discontinued products
* Cheerios and X's (1993)
* Team Cheerios (formerly Team USA Cheerios) (1996–2003)
* Millenios (Cheerios with "2"-shaped cereal pieces) (1999–2000)
* Berry Burst Cheerios (including variations of Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, Cherry Vanilla and Triple Berry) (2003)
* Dulce de Leche Cheerios (2012) (sweetened Cheerios made with caramel)
* Banana Nut Cheerios (2015–2016) (sweetened Cheerios made with banana puree)
2009 FDA demand
In May 2009, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
sent a letter
[ to General Mills indicating that Cheerios was being sold as an unapproved new drug, due to labeling which read in part:
]* "You can Lower Your Cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks"
* "Did you know that in just 6 weeks Cheerios can reduce bad cholesterol by an average of 4 percent? Cheerios is ... clinically proven to lower cholesterol. A clinical study showed that eating two 1½ cup servings daily of Cheerios cereal reduced bad cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol."
The FDA letter indicated that General Mills needed to change the way it marketed Cheerios or apply for federal approval to sell Cheerios as a drug. General Mills responded with a statement that their claim of soluble fiber content had been approved by the FDA, and that claims about lowering cholesterol had been featured on the box for two years.
In 2012, the FDA followed up with a letter approving the Cheerios labeling and declaring that the matter was moot
Moot may refer to:
* Mootness, in American law: a point where further proceedings have lost practical significance; whereas in British law: the issue remains debatable
* Moot court, an activity in many law schools where participants take part in s ...
and required no further action.
See also
* Cheerios effect
In fluid mechanics, the Cheerios effect is a colloquial name for the phenomenon of floating objects appearing to either attract or repel one another. The example which gives the effect its name is the observation that pieces of breakfast cereal ...
* Cruncheroos
Cruncheroos is a whole grain oat breakfast cereal manufactured by Kellogg's, originally available in Canada in two flavors, apple and cinnamon or honey and almonds. As the name states, the cereal was crunchy and O-shaped.
The cereal was created ...
References
External links
*
{{Nestlé
Nestlé cereals
General Mills cereals
1941 establishments in the United States
Products introduced in 1941