You've Been Opening Your Cereal Wrong This Whole Time

Cereal is a breakfast favorite in America. Some of the most popular cereals include Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. One of the first things that draws people (especially children) to cereal is, of course, the cereal box. Children would probably eat a bowl of dehydrated broccoli if the characters from Paw Patrol or PJ Masks were on the box. Researchers report that children will even say that they enjoy the taste of a cereal more, simply because the box features one of their favorite characters (via MedicineNet).

Similarly, if cereal box toys would have stuck around, we may not be talking about this cereal box hack today, which involves flipping the interior bag over. Most kids in search of a cereal toy were already using this trick back in the day. The first cereal toy appeared in a box of Corn Flakes in 1909, according to Flashbak. But, sadly, most of those toys are now a thing of the past. The reasons for their disappearance range from the tiny toys becoming choking hazards to tech-savvy kids losing interest. 

So now we're left to open our cereal for, well, the cereal. But did you know there's a better way?

There's only one thing worse than not finding a toy in your cereal, and that's ruining a beautiful bowl of sweet and crunchy cereal with the cereal dust that collects at the bottom of the bag. It's almost never yummy, marshmallow-y, sugar dust. It's sandy, tasteless, dry dust that leaves a strange, gummy film at the bottom of your bowl. Well, it stops today. The next time you open a fresh box of cereal, take the bag out, and flip the cereal bag over. All of the sediment at the bottom will mix throughout the cereal bag. When you eventually work your way to the bottom, it will be as crumb-free as the top. You're welcome.

Forgot to turn your bag over? No biggie. If you're handy in the kitchen, there are cereal recipes that help you incorporate the cereal remnants, including crumbs, into cookies, cakes and more. One cookie recipe from Betty Crocker states that you can use "whatever cereal you have on hand — including the crumbs," combined with a box cookie mix. Time to go check the pantry!