Frosted Mini-Wheats facts for kids
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Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats – Whole Grain Cereal, with milk
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| Type | Breakfast cereal |
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| Owner | Kellogg's |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1969 |
| Related brands | Frosted Flakes |
| Tagline | "Keeps them full. Keeps them focused" |
Frosted Mini-Wheats is a popular breakfast cereal made by Kellogg's. It's known for its unique shape: small, shredded wheat biscuits covered with a sweet frosting.
This cereal has different names in various countries. In the United Kingdom, it's called Frosted Wheats or Mini Max. In Canada, it's known as Mini-Wheats!, and in some parts of Europe, you might find it as Toppas. In the United States, people often just call it "Mini-Wheats."
Contents
History of Frosted Mini-Wheats
Kellogg's first introduced Frosted Mini-Wheats in the United States in 1969. Back then, it came in a larger size. You could choose between a regular flavor or a brown sugar and cinnamon flavor.
Bite-Size and Other Changes
In 1980, Kellogg's released a smaller, "bite-size" version of the cereal. This bite-size version became very popular. The original large size was later called "Big Bite" but was eventually stopped in 2015.
In 1999, Kellogg's tried a version without frosting that had raisins inside, but it didn't last long. In the United Kingdom, the cereal was sold as Toppas in the 1980s. It later returned as Frosted Wheats, which are smaller than the original Toppas.
Since 2008, Mini-Wheats sold in Canada are made in a plant in Belleville, Ontario. These Canadian-made Mini-Wheats are also sent to the United States.
Advertising Campaigns
Frosted Mini-Wheats has had many different advertisements over the years, trying to show how good the cereal is for you.
United States Advertising
In the past, some TV ads showed a Frosted Mini-Wheat biscuit with two "personalities." One side was the sweet, frosted part, and the other was the healthy, shredded wheat part. They would argue about which side was more popular.
Later, when people started paying more attention to whole grains, ads focused on the cereal's fiber content. These ads showed a person asking, "Have you had your fiber today?" and offering people a bowl of cereal.
In the 1990s, some ads showed funny conflicts between kids who loved the frosting and adults who loved the whole grain wheat. One famous ad series was called "The Kid in You," where adults would turn into kids and kids into adults.
Today, ads for Frosted Mini-Wheats often show the cereal helping kids in everyday situations. For example, an ad might show a Mini-Wheat helping a girl focus during a spelling bee or keep time in a school play. The main message in these ads is that eating Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast helps kids stay full and focused. The tagline is: "Keeps 'em [your kids] full, and keeps 'em focused."
However, in 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had concerns about some of Kellogg's claims. The FTC is a government agency that makes sure companies advertise fairly. They said that Kellogg's had made claims about the cereal improving kids' attention by nearly 20%, which they felt was not accurate based on their studies. Kellogg's then had to change these specific advertising claims.
New Flavors and Spinoffs
In 2009, Kellogg's launched "Little Bites," a smaller version of Mini-Wheats. These came in flavors like Original, Chocolate, and Honey Nut. Honey Nut was later replaced by Cinnamon Roll, but that flavor also didn't last long.
In 2011, Kellogg's introduced "Frosted Mini-Wheats with Fruit in the Middle." These had fruit fillings like strawberries and blueberries inside. This was similar to older versions of Mini-Wheats that had fruit fillings in the 1990s.
Canadian Advertising
In Canada, ads for Mini-Wheats have also been creative. In the early 1990s, there was an animated character called "Mr. Mini-Wheat." He was a cartoon cereal biscuit who would go on adventures.
More recently, animated Mr. Mini-Wheat has appeared in ads singing and dancing to popular tunes to promote different flavors like Vanilla, Strawberry, Whole Wheat, Blueberry Muffin, and Cinnamon Streusel.
Different Varieties of Frosted Mini-Wheats
Frosted Mini-Wheats comes in many different flavors and sizes. Here are some you might find:
- Bite Size Frosted Maple Brown Sugar
- Bite Size Frosted Blueberry (used to be called Blueberry Muffin)
- Bite Size Frosted Original
- Bite Size Pumpkin Spice (this is a special flavor available only at certain times of the year)
- Bite Size Frosted Strawberry (used to be called Strawberry Delight)
- Unfrosted Mini-Wheats (for those who prefer less sugar)
- Little Bites Original (smaller squares)
- Little Bites Chocolate (smaller squares)
- Touch of Fruit in the Middle Raspberry (in the US)
- Centres Mixed Berry (in Canada)
Over the years, some varieties have been stopped, like Bite Size Frosted Apple, Bite Size Frosted Vanilla Creme, and Frosted Mini-Wheats Big Bite.
Ingredients of Frosted Mini-Wheats
The main ingredients in Frosted Mini-Wheats are whole grain wheat, sugar, and gelatin.
It's important to know that because Frosted Mini-Wheats contains gelatin, it is not suitable for vegetarians. Gelatin is a substance that comes from collagen, which is found in animal bones and fat. In 2012, brown rice sugar was also added to the list of ingredients.
Product Recall
In October 2012, Kellogg's announced a voluntary recall of some Frosted Mini-Wheats products. This means they asked stores to remove certain boxes from their shelves. This was done because there was a chance that small pieces of metal might have gotten into the cereal during the manufacturing process at one of Kellogg's factories. This was a safety measure to protect customers.
