Many kids wake up in the morning, and in their rush to prepare for school, they end up short on time to cook a well-balanced meal, assuming they eat at all. Cereal seems the way to go, but recent releases of new, exotic flavors, may put this cash crop item in jeopardy. Cereal brands like Post and General Mills have released flavors that are different. With flavors like Oreo, Pumpkin Spice, and Sour Patch cereal, it’s hard to tell if these were released as a publicity stunt or if the companies genuinely believed they had the next best thing. So, a survey was conducted at Bob Jones High School to find out if these flavors were actually desired by the public.

The 32 students who participated had the choice of trying Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, Sour Patch, or Oreo O’s cereal. 73% chose to try Oreo O’s, which indicates that the Oreo cereal attracted more people at first sight. Based off many reactions and data collected from students, the only cereal in this sampling that will made it in the long run is Oreo O’s. 

Most students agreed that the Sour Patch cereal tasted better without the milk. One student even stated, “The Sour Patch cereal tastes like puke” once the milk was added.

Though it’s fall and Cheerios is a well-respected cereal in general, the Pumpkin Spice Cheerios was the hands-down worst new cereal, according to our student sampling. No student who participated enjoyed this, and we ended up throwing the remaining cereal away.

If cereal companies truly want a product that will stand out from others, they should probably make sure that it’s appealing to customers and actually tastes good. Some students said they would only recommend these cereals to a friend as a joke to see the reaction.

We asked the students to voice their ideas for future interesting cereal flavors. Here’s a list of all the worst cereal flavors recommended by students:

Sour Cream and Onion

Oriental Ramen Noodles

Pickle

Bacon

Onion and Ketchup

Surprise Jelly Bean

Salt and Vinegar

With the list of wacky flavors consistently growing over time, it’s hard to understand why companies release the flavors they do. However, since the market for exotic flavors is ever growing, maybe something from our list of student suggestions will find its way onto grocery shelves.