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  • Harry: From calorie count to portion sizes,

  • we wanted to find out all the differences

  • between breakfast cereals in the UK and the US.

  • This is "Food Wars."

  • Hey, everyone, Joe from "Food Wars."

  • I'm actually not in this episode,

  • because myself, Conner, and Yuelei

  • are busy making a new season of "Food Wars"

  • with a new country.

  • Ooh!

  • But don't worry, I'll chime in every once in a while

  • and be super annoying.

  • We're doing a cereal episode.

  • Now, obviously there are a lot of breakfast cereals

  • in the UK and the US,

  • and we can't cover them all in one episode.

  • So we're going to start with the two

  • best sellers in America,

  • which are Frosted Flakes and Honey Nut Cheerios.

  • Then, after that, we might get into some fun cereals

  • which you can't find in one country or the other.

  • That sound good to you, Irene?

  • Yeah, sounds great, Harry.

  • First things first, Frosted Flakes?

  • What is going on there?

  • In the UK, we actually just call them Frosties.

  • OK, this is the one time I think the UK

  • has a better term for something.

  • 'Cause Frosties is actually kind of cute.

  • It's like besties.

  • In the UK, Frosties come in five sizes,

  • starting with this one, which is a 25-gram box,

  • which comes as part of one of these multipacks.

  • From there, we move up to a 375-gram box.

  • Next up, we've got a 500-gram box of Frosties.

  • From there, we move up to a 750-gram box.

  • Then our largest size is this one,

  • the big 1-kilogram box.

  • In the US, Frosted Flakes also come in four sizes.

  • We start with the 60-gram cup,

  • which you can just add milk directly into and eat.

  • Next up, we have the 24-ounce,

  • or 680-gram, family-size box.

  • From there, we move up to a 34-ounce mega size,

  • but this actually isn't the largest one.

  • We actually go one step further, with a

  • [bag crunching]

  • 39.5-ounce, or 1,120-gram, bag.

  • That means our largest size is 12% larger than the UK's.

  • In the UK, the recommended serving size for Frosties

  • is 30 grams,

  • which means that our largest box

  • contains roughly 33 servings.

  • Let's find out what 30 grams of Frosties

  • actually looks like.

  • Digital scales! We finally got digital scales.

  • I leave for one episode and we get the digi scales.

  • What the heck, guys? I want one.

  • How precise can we go?

  • [laughs] Not very.

  • That is 30.08 grams of Frosties right there.

  • In an actual cereal bowl, that is nothing.

  • In the US, the recommended serving size for Frosted Flakes

  • is actually 37 grams,

  • which is 23% more than in the UK.

  • So while our largest packet size might be a little bigger,

  • we're technically getting fewer servings.

  • Just 30 compared to the UK's 33.

  • [bag crackles]

  • Does this count as ASMR? [bag crunching]

  • 37. I did it.

  • I feel like -- you know on Tinder

  • when guys hold, like, a fish in their photo?

  • I feel like that right now.

  • Now, I'm going to be honest here,

  • that is not a realistic serving size

  • for a strapping young lad such as myself.

  • What I'm going to do is pour out

  • what I would consider to be a normal bowl,

  • and then we'll weigh that to see what it comes to.

  • So, my actual realistic serving ended up being

  • almost exactly double the 30 grams,

  • coming in at around 60 grams.

  • 57.5. OK, this is 60.

  • If I was using a bowl,

  • I think this is exactly what I would pour for myself.

  • 'Cause I feel like what people do,

  • you fill the entire bowl of cereal,

  • and then you fill it up with milk.

  • But the thing I, for some reason, do,

  • is I eat my cereal out of a cup. Like, a mug.

  • I like that it's deeper.

  • So I'll put that in,

  • and so I don't know what the equivalent of that would be.

  • But, yeah, cereal out of a mug.

  • It's, like, it's fun.

  • The first thing to point out here

  • is that I really gaslit myself

  • and was convinced that we had Honey Nut Cheerios in the UK.

  • However, when I then looked into it,

  • I found that instead, they're just Honey Cheerios

  • and I'd imagined the whole thing.

  • Although our cameraman, Charlie,

  • today was convinced of the same thing,

  • so maybe there's just some butterfly effect

  • that's going on.

  • Honey Cheerios in the UK come in six portion sizes,

  • starting with this one.

  • It's a 30-gram box.

  • And, again, it only comes as part of a multipack.

  • From there, we go up to a 280-gram box.

  • While I was looking for the portions,

  • I found both a 370-gram box

  • as well as this 375-gram box.

  • It looks like this one,

  • maybe they are trying to use less packaging

  • but have taken that opportunity to give you

  • a few less Cheerios as well.

  • Who knows?

  • Our next size is this one,

  • which is a 515-gram box.

  • And then, finally, our largest Cheerios box is this one,

  • which is 575 grams.

  • Honey Nut Cheerios in the US come in five sizes.

  • We have the 1.8-ounce,

  • or 51-gram, mini cup.

  • The classic 10.8-ounce box.

  • The 18.8-ounce family size.

  • The 29.4-ounce mega size.

  • [bag crunching]

  • And, lastly, a 32-ounce,

  • or 907-gram, bag.

  • That makes the largest US option

  • 57% larger than the UK's.

  • The recommended serving size for Cheerios

  • in the UK is, again, 30 grams.

  • That means that our largest box contains around 19 servings.

  • In the US, the recommended serving size is 1 cup.

  • See, that's why you should eat it out of a cup. Get it?

  • Which should weigh around 37 grams.

  • That's a 23% increase on the UK.

  • And the most servings you can get in a US container

  • would be around 24.5,

  • which is almost a 30% increase on the UK,

  • because of course.

  • But once again, it seems like 30 grams

  • is just a really unrealistic serving size.

  • I think, again, I'm eating much closer to 60 grams.

  • Does that look about right to you, Irene?

  • [cereal clinking]

  • Yeah. I agree with Harry.

  • This is, again, it's -- you need to fill the bowl.

  • So apparently filling the bowl means 60 grams, so.

  • No one's pouring out 37 grams of Cheerios.

  • This is, I think this is how much

  • normal people are pouring out.

  • So realistically, you're only actually getting

  • nine and a half servings out of the UK's largest box.

  • Whereas we're getting 15 servings from our largest bag.

  • Wow, you guys are getting kind of ripped off.

  • Unfortunately, we don't have any exclusive Frosties

  • in the UK.

  • Here are all the Frosted Flakes from the US

  • that you won't find in the UK.

  • We have the chocolate Frosted Flakes,

  • Frosted Flakes with marshmallows,

  • Frosted Flakes Cinnamon Basketballs,

  • honey nut Frosted Flakes,

  • Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops mash-up.

  • This is limited edition.

  • And the Tiger Paws Jumbo Snax.

  • Eh, I'll try one of the basketballs.

  • Tastes like cinnamon.

  • I don't think it's that good.

  • Shaq will put his face on literally anything.

  • Look at that smile he has on that face right there.

  • That's that, "I'm getting paid! Whoo!"

  • He's hanging out with Tony the Tiger. Right?

  • He also does a commercial with the General.

  • "Space Jam" should have been that.

  • It should have been Shaq with all the cartoon characters

  • of products that he advertises with.

  • It'd be Shaq, the General, Tony the Tiger,

  • a can of Arizona iced tea.

  • What else is he doing?

  • That would have been a much better movie.

  • This, this is exciting.

  • This is a fake novelty.

  • This is a real novelty.

  • These are literally like Lucky Charms.

  • I'm only eating the marshmallows.

  • And you know it would turn the milk, like, purple or pink,

  • or, like, a weird, ugly color,

  • but it would taste so good.

  • I'm sorry you can't have this, Harry.

  • You know what? It's probably banned in the UK

  • because of the hormones

  • or, like, artificial products anyway.

  • These are interesting.

  • Oh, my God! OK.

  • This looks like the baby cereal.

  • Like the baby snacks or like the toddler snacks.

  • They are! It looks like the baby cereal.

  • It's like --

  • but it's a little bit bigger.

  • Very exciting.

  • [crunching]

  • It's not dry. It's not as sweet.

  • I would add more sugar to this. [laughs]

  • I have, like, my dipping sugar.

  • Unfortunately, we don't have any exclusive Cheerio options

  • in the UK.

  • Here are all the Cheerios you'll find in the US

  • but not in the UK.

  • Here we have the more fruity flavors.

  • Blueberry Cheerios, apple cinnamon Cheerios,

  • multigrain Cheerios with strawberries,

  • Very Berry Cheerios,

  • chocolate strawberry Cheerios,

  • and fruity Cheerios.

  • Is this supposed to be like their take on Froot Loops?

  • Like healthy Froot Loops?

  • No.

  • We have pumpkin spice Cheerios,

  • Honey Nut Cheerios medley,

  • cinnamon Cheerios,

  • maple Cheerios,

  • frosted Cheerios,

  • chocolate peanut butter Cheerios,

  • Cheerios Oat Crunch oats and honey,

  • and Cheerios Oat Crunch almond.

  • We weren't able to get our hands

  • on the limited-edition flavors

  • toasted coconut, peach, and banana nut.

  • I'm a big pumpkin spice girl.

  • I think it's good.

  • Mm, smells like fall.

  • Honestly, I don't even know if it was that good

  • or I'm just like, it's pumpkin spice,

  • so I'm just automatically thinking

  • it smells and tastes good.

  • But I think this would be amazing.

  • Here are some British cereals

  • which you won't find in the US.

  • Here are some cereals you won't find in the UK.

  • Let's start with a US classic, Lucky Charms.

  • I do think they are a classic,

  • and the marshmallows are really good.

  • They do taste very artificial,

  • but they're supposed to taste artificial.

  • And I stand by that.

  • I've never had Lucky Charms before.

  • I had to go to one of those American shops

  • on Oxford Street to get one.

  • So are those all marshmallows, all those colorful things?

  • It tastes like a marshmallow, but it's, like, crunchy?

  • Marshmallows aren't supposed to be crispy, guys.

  • I'd be lying if I said those weren't good.

  • That is good.

  • Everything about the design of this is just to, like,

  • make a child go, "Oh, my God, I need this."

  • Yes, American cereal boxes look like slot machines.

  • That is by design.

  • So, next up we've got Froot Loops.

  • I think Froot Loops is one of those cereals you can eat dry,

  • because they have enough flavor to them.

  • Now look, the colors are so fun.

  • Look how fun that is.

  • Something's wrong with this one.

  • They didn't used to taste like this.

  • [gasps] They used to use artificial red dye,

  • and they switched to a natural one.

  • They went too natural.

  • Also never tried these.

  • I like the toucan guy. He's cool.

  • Whoo! Jesus Christ! [laughs]

  • The smell of those!

  • Whoo-hooh! What is that?

  • Charlie: Smells like soap, or like shower gel.

  • Yeah.

  • Like a tropical shampoo.

  • Charlie: Like a cheap bodywash.

  • No, I don't like that.

  • The same acidic smell that I got,

  • you can taste that as well.

  • And that is not something that you want with milk.

  • And, finally, Cap'n Crunch.

  • I think the other

  • traditional sugary cereals are just superior to it.

  • This is just so, like,

  • it doesn't offer anything, you know?

  • Ugh.

  • You can see where all the Yellow 5

  • and Yellow 6 are going.

  • [crunching]

  • They are crunchy, as the name suggests.

  • They're pretty good.

  • It's between these or Lucky Charms.

  • Froot Loops for me are awful.

  • Never -- stop eating those.

  • We'll start with a personal favorite of mine,

  • which is Golden Nuggets.

  • I'm a little surprised you don't have these in the US,

  • because the kind of advert campaign

  • was based around prospecting and the gold rush.

  • So we've got a little mascot gold miner guy,

  • who I think his name was, like,

  • Prospector Pete or something like that.

  • I do feel like they used to be brighter than that. Yeah.

  • But they've got rid of the catchphrase and also, yeah,

  • demoted the mascot to the back of the pack.

  • The catchphrase when I remember growing up with these

  • was, "They taste yeehaw!"

  • OK, "They taste yeehaw."

  • What would be the UK equivalent of that in America?

  • British Parliament Flakes.

  • What'd you just say?

  • Parliament Pops. They taste jolly good.

  • I don't think they taste quite as yeehaw

  • as I remember from my childhood,

  • but it's still, like, a solid

  • mid to low level of yeehaw.

  • Next up, we've got Weetabix.

  • Now, I personally love Weetabix,

  • but I will say it's quite a boring cereal.

  • If you imagine the kind of archetypal,

  • really boring, gray British breakfast,

  • it's probably one of these.

  • It's literally just compressed wheat

  • with a very small amount of sugar

  • and I think some enriched vitamins and minerals.

  • Like, they have no right to be as good as they are,

  • but they are just good.

  • Like, I can't explain why.

  • As long as the milk is really cold,

  • so that you get the crisp that's maintained.

  • To me, that's just pure nostalgia.

  • So, we got

  • Harry's

  • British cereal.

  • I'm very confused by this.

  • Scared.

  • I'm going to follow Harry's tutorial.

  • OK.

  • I don't think you can just call something cereal

  • because you're pouring milk on top of it.

  • And I feel like that's what's happening here.

  • Like, this kind of feels like

  • if I were to get a granola bar

  • and pour milk on top of it

  • and I was going to be like,

  • "Oh, I'm eating cereal now."

  • I don't want to say it tastes like cardboard,

  • but it tastes like cardboard.

  • My childhood was Fruity Pebbles. I'm sorry.

  • It was rainbows and unicorns and magical flavors.

  • If you did want a slightly more exciting

  • version of Weetabix,

  • then they do have flavored ones as well.

  • For example, these are the classic biscuits

  • but banana flavored.

  • There are also some classic ones but chocolate flavored.

  • Then they have a few other options as well,

  • such as these ones, which are chocolate melts.

  • So it's kind of like a Weetabix outside layer,

  • but then with a little bit of chocolate inside.

  • And these come with milk chocolate

  • or with white chocolate.

  • And then, finally, maybe my favorite cereal ever,

  • Weetabix crispy minis.

  • These things are incredible.

  • It's little bite-size versions of Weetabix

  • with a bunch of chocolate chips in them.

  • Honestly, God-tier cereal.

  • This is supposed to be, like, the treat version.

  • Food is supposed to make you feel better.

  • A final UK exclusive for today are Weetos.

  • Now, not so much of a fan of these myself.

  • They're kind of like Cheerios

  • in that they're a ring shape,

  • however they're a little bit bigger,

  • a little bit more puffy and airy.

  • And, personally, I just don't love that,

  • 'cause when you're eating them with the milk,

  • they go a little bit more soggy more quickly.

  • Yeah, I'm sure some people like them, but not myself.

  • This is a more realistic serving of 60 grams

  • of Frosted Flakes.

  • If we do some quick math,

  • we can figure out that the nutrition for this

  • is as follows:

  • 210 calories;

  • 0 grams of fat;

  • 53.4 grams of carbs,

  • 19.2 grams of which are sugar;

  • 1.62 grams of fiber;

  • and 307 milligrams of sodium.

  • So, here's everything that's in

  • 60 grams of Frosties in the UK:

  • 225 calories;

  • 0.36 grams of fat,

  • of which 0.06 grams are saturated;

  • carbs, 52.2 grams,

  • of which 22.2 grams are sugar;

  • fiber, 1.4 grams;

  • and 232 milligrams of sodium.

  • The final thing to note

  • is that these values don't include milk.

  • So, in the States,

  • we have a few different types of milk

  • with varying fat content.

  • Skim milk, which has 0% fat;

  • 1% milk; 2% milk;

  • and then whole milk, which is around 3.25% fat.

  • For this example, we're going to use 2% milk.

  • In the UK, we don't refer to our milks by fat percentage.

  • Instead, we call them skimmed, semi-skimmed,

  • and whole milk.

  • They're around 0%, 2%, and 3.5% fat, respectively.

  • For this example, we'll use semi-skimmed milk.

  • So, in the UK, we also standardize the colors of our milk.

  • So green is always semi-skimmed,

  • blue is always whole milk,

  • and red is skimmed milk.

  • Whereas I spoke to a few American friends,

  • and those are just, like, all over the place

  • depending on where in the country you are.

  • And it seems like an absolute minefield.

  • So, in the US, 100 milliliters of 2% milk

  • contains the following:

  • 50 calories;

  • 2.08 grams of total fat,

  • 1.25 grams of which are saturated;

  • 5 grams of carbs,

  • of which 5 grams are sugar,

  • so all the carbs are sugar;

  • and 52 milligrams of sodium.

  • In the UK, 100 milliliters of semi-skimmed milk

  • contains the following:

  • 50 calories;

  • 1.8 grams of fat,

  • of which 1.1 grams are saturated;

  • 4.8 grams of carbs,

  • of which 4.8 grams are sugar;

  • and 40 milligrams of sodium.

  • Our research suggests that the average bowl of cereal

  • contains around 200 milliliters of milk.

  • So these figures need to be doubled.

  • Harry: Then we can add those stats to our

  • realistic 60-gram serving,

  • and our final tally looks something like this.

  • So, the same bowl in the US would contain this.

  • So the UK version is actually more calorific

  • and more sugary.

  • While the US version has more fat, total carbs, and sodium.

  • Because of course we do.

  • The main thing to watch out for here

  • is, of course, the sugar.

  • The recommended daily added sugar intake for an adult

  • is 50 grams, and this contains over 60% of that.

  • We're going to measure it out for you now,

  • so you can see just how much sugar is in one of these bowls.

  • Oh, my God, stop eating so much sugar!

  • I feel like this is bad to say,

  • but this isn't as much sugar as I thought there would be.

  • I thought there would be more.

  • And, like, sometimes I add more sugar to my cereal,

  • so, like ...

  • Cereal is meant to be sugary! I stand by that.

  • So it's like,

  • I don't trust people who eat, like, Raisin Bran.

  • Raisin Bran people can't be trusted.

  • This is probably about as much sugar I add to my coffee, so.

  • Look at --

  • OK, this is a little bit more sugar than I would do.

  • My stomach hurts just watching this.

  • This is genuinely good to me.

  • The 31.8 grams of sugar in this bowl of Frosties

  • is actually less than

  • three American glazed ring Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

  • So,

  • yeah, I guess you can just eat those for breakfast instead.

  • Here's the nutritional info

  • for a 60-gram bowl of Honey Cheerios in the UK.

  • And here are the values

  • for a 60-gram Honey Nut Cheerio bowl in the US.

  • Here's how the values change if we add milk.

  • So this bowl only contains around

  • 16% of your daily calories,

  • but once again,

  • it's the sugar you need to watch out for.

  • There's almost 60% of your daily sugar allowance in here.

  • It's not quite as bad in the UK,

  • at just 46% of your daily sugar.

  • But that is still quite a lot for your breakfast.

  • But good news for the UK is that we somehow have

  • 45% less sodium than the US bowl.

  • Here are all the ingredients in Frosties in the UK.

  • Maize, sugar, barley malt flavouring, salt,

  • vitamins and minerals:

  • niacin, iron,

  • B6, B2, B1, folic acid,

  • vitamin D, and vitamin B12.

  • Yes, we pronounce it vih-tamins, not vye-tamins.

  • Here are all the ingredients in Frosted Flakes in the US.

  • Milled corn, sugar, malt flavor, salt,

  • vitamins and minerals:

  • iron, niacinamide,

  • vitamin B6, vitamin B2,

  • vitamin B1, folic acid,

  • vitamin D3, and vitamin B12.

  • The differences here are actually just linguistic.

  • In practical terms, those are basically identical lists.

  • Things get more interesting

  • when we move away from classic Frosted Flakes.

  • Take these Frosted Flakes

  • with crispy cinnamon basketballs for example.

  • Here's the ingredients list for these.

  • Two things to watch out for here.

  • Firstly, Yellow 6.

  • This is a food coloring

  • which is used to give things a yellowy-orange color,

  • but you're unlikely to see it

  • on any ingredients list in the UK.

  • It was flagged in a 2008 study as one of six colorings

  • that may be linked to hyperactivity in kids.

  • If it's in a UK food product,

  • it must come with a warning that

  • it "may have an adverse effect on activity

  • and attention in children."

  • The other ingredient to watch out for here is BHT,

  • or butylated hydroxytoluene.

  • This is an antioxidant

  • which is used to keep foods fresh.

  • Outside of food use, some use it to treat herpes.

  • If that's not enough to put you off,

  • there are also some studies which have suggested

  • that BHT causes rats to develop tumors.

  • Yay. [children cheering]

  • There's actually very little evidence

  • to suggest that it could do the same to humans,

  • but its use is still restricted in places like Australia,

  • and certain companies such as General Mills

  • have voluntarily taken steps to remove it

  • from all their products.

  • Here's everything in Honey Cheerios in the UK.

  • Here's everything in Honey Nut Cheerios in the US.

  • These are pretty similar lists

  • with a few minor differences.

  • In the UK, we seem to put a bit more emphasis on the grains,

  • with wheat, barley, maize, and rice all being involved,

  • compared to just oats in the US.

  • While we're doing a cereal episode,

  • we may as well look at the milk used

  • in both the UK and the US.

  • You may have seen certain headlines

  • suggesting that US milk is actually

  • banned in the European Union.

  • That's not completely correct,

  • but there are some differences to note

  • which do cause issues with imports.

  • The first issue is due to something called somatic cells.

  • These are basically just the white blood cells

  • which cows will produce to fight infections

  • when they get sick.

  • If you have a higher somatic cell count in your milk,

  • it's probably a sign that it came from a less healthy cow.

  • The general limit for a healthy cow

  • is considered to be around 100,000 cells per milliliter,

  • with 200,000 getting towards mastitis territory,

  • which is when the udders get infected.

  • For milk to be sold in the European Union,

  • the somatic cell count can't be any higher than

  • 400,000 cells per milliliter.

  • But in the US, it's almost double that.

  • You guys have an upper threshold of

  • 750,000 cells per milliliter,

  • which means that in general,

  • you guys tolerate much sicker cows than we do

  • in the UK and the EU.

  • [laughing] Not the sicker cows.

  • I feel like every time we do one of these,

  • it's basically just the UK being like,

  • "So, you guys don't standardize anything

  • and you don't regulate anything."

  • And we're like,

  • "Yeah."

  • The one chocolate chip in my palate

  • really makes me feel really happy.

  • I don't need sugar or flavors or color.

Harry: From calorie count to portion sizes,

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