Tricks of the Cereal Wars

It’s hard to imagine a health food company trying to make its cereal more like Trix. But if you’ve ever taken a kid down the cereal aisle in a grocery store, you know it’s hard to get her attention diverted from the call of the Silly Rabbit and his sugar-happy competitors. Barbara’s Bakery, which is known for its oat- and wheat-based cereals, has recently gone pastel with its Trixed-out Fruity Punch cereal in banana, berry and generic orange fruit shapes. It tastes sugary, but while Trix has 13 grams of sweetener and Froot Loops has 14 grams, Fruity Punch has 8 grams of sweetener derived from cane juice. It also has no artificial preservatives, no artificial colors and no hydrogenated oils--some real cereal tricks.

$3.85 for a 10-ounce box at most bristol farms, Whole Foods and Wild Oats markets, Co-Opportunity in Santa Monica and selected health food stores.