Why You Should Think Twice About Eating Cookie Crisp

The opportunity to eat cookies for breakfast is one every kid dreams about. So when Cookie Crisp hit the shelves, it was really a dream come true. The cereal is so well known that just thinking about it when you read its name likely immediately has you hearing its wolf mascot howl their signature tagline (via YouTube). The popular cereal fave ranked highly among Reese's Puffs and other snack-inspired cereals, and for a while, it was in a league of its own. According to Statista, in 2020, 1.7 million Americans enjoyed 10 portions or more of Cookie Crisp during the year.

But have you ever looked at the nutrition label on that bad boy? It may be labeled as cereal, but the older we get, the more we realize that there has to be a reason we don't actually eat cookies for breakfast every day. Let's take a look at the reason to rethink your choice next time you're walking down the breakfast aisle. 

When a cereal has the word "cookie" in the name, it's safe to assume that eating it means taking some health risks. And as far as scores go, CheatSheet noted it "earned a 47 on the NPI [Nutrient Profiling Index] scale, the highest of any of the cereals but still hardly healthy" and ranked it among the "10 Worst Breakfast Cereals for Children." The irony is that, according to Star Tribune, in 2009, they actually scaled back on the sugar levels they had to begin with, vowing to cut back to 11 grams or less of sugar per serving. This means that Cookie Crisp was actually worse before and has since purportedly improved. General Mills caved to consumers asking for healthier cereals and removed the sugar content from a ton of their offerings, Cookie Crisp being one of them.

While the General Mills website highlights the positives of this cereal offering, including its whole grain, vitamin D and calcium content, one look at the sugar content tells you all you need to know, with one cup of Cookie Crisp boasting 24 percent of your daily recommended sugar intake (and that's without the milk).

With the emerging popularity of stores that boast healthy and natural food products over processed, there has been a slew of new options for cereals on shelves. If you're truly a cereal fiend and can't go without it, why not try something new and better for you? Magic Spoon has been getting a lot of positive press lately for its high protein, low carb options that have been said to taste great (via Forbes), and Puffins, a brand that's been around for quite a while now, has a huge variety of options and even landed itself on Men's Health's list of healthier cereals.

It may be tempting to walk by the cereal aisle, see the word "cookies" and grab a box, thinking it's healthy because it's labeled as a breakfast food. However, the next time you head to the grocery store, think twice and maybe grab something a little better-for-you instead. It doesn't have to be eggs, but it also doesn't have to be Cookie Crisp.