Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the ...

breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in We ...

, introduced in 1979 by Yandel Gonzalez, who was in the

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

cereal company. Honey Nut Cheerios is sweeter than the original, with a

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genu ...

flavor. While Honey Nut Cheerios used to be made with actual nuts, as of 2006, the nuts were discontinued, and natural flavor, from peach and apricot pit is used instead . In 2011, Honey Nut Cheerios was the best-selling cereal in the United States. Honey Nut Cheerios was the third variation of Cheerios introduced; Cinnamon Nut Cheerios was test marketed in 1976. There have been many other Cheerios variations, including

Maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...

Cheerios,

Chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec ci ...

Cheerios, and

Blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus '' Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries ...

Cheerios.

History

Historically, Honey Nut Cheerios has participated in much the same promotional advertising as the original brand, while collaborating with the field of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

and especially driver

Bill Lester William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 17 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing. Lester pre ...

, in promoting healthy diets. In 1985,

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin (1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in ...

introduced an ice cream flavor based on the cereal called Honey Nut Crunch. Promotional tie-ins included gift certificates in cereal boxes and special Honey Nut Crunch sundaes in stores. The first 7 series of Honey Nut Cheerios did not have the bee mascot on the box, It was not until series 8 that the bee appeared on the box. Cereal boxes from 1979 without the bee are called 'pre-bee' and are very rare. General Mills has been active in the conservation of bees since 2011; in 2011, the company began investing in the Xerces Society to help promote biodiversity and pollinator conservation. In March 2017, General Mills announced the Buzz Bee image had been removed from boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. Images of the new box showed a white empty space where Buzz Bee used to be. Below the image of the bowl of cereal, a plea to "Help Bring Back The Bees" was added. This was to raise awareness of

pollinator decline Pollinator decline is the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide that began being recorded at the end of the 20th century. Multiple lines of evidence exist for the reduction of wild pollinato ...

. In the announcement, General Mills made note that 30% of ingredients they use depend on

pollinators A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

, and that the company plans to expand their pollinator habitat to 3,300 acres. As part of the campaign, 1.5 billion packets of wildflower seeds were included in boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. This campaign has struck controversy in some environmental communities. Kathryn Turner, an ecologist, commented that the packages of seeds contain species that are invasive to some geographic locations, and urged individuals to become more educated before planting the seeds.

Mascot and promotions

Honey Nut Cheerios' mascot is an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...

, designed for the first commercials by Dean Yeagle at Zander's Animation Parlour in New York City. The bee did not have a name until 2000, when Kristine Tong, a fifth grade student from

Coolidge, Texas Coolidge is a town in Limestone County, Texas, United States, established in 1903. The population was 778 at the 2020 census. History The town of Coolidge was established in 1903 by the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway of Texas, as it was laying ...

, won a national contest to name him, dubbing him "BuzzBee". Several different voice actors have provided the voice of Buzz: originally voiced by Arnold Stang until 1992, he was then voiced by Hadley Kay,

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of ''Doug'' ...

Charlie Schlatter Charles Thomas "Charlie" Schlatter (born May 1, 1966) is an American actor who has appeared in several films and television series. He is perhaps best known for playing Dr. Jesse Travis, the resident student of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van ...

Jason Marsden Jason Christopher Marsden (born January 3, 1975) is an American actor, director, producer and YouTuber, who has done numerous voice roles in animated films, as well as various television series and video games. He has been the official voice of ...

, Oliver Wyman and Sam Heyn. Buzz appeared as the host in the Honey Nut Cheerios Spelling Bee

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

Taglines

Many of this cereal's taglines overlapped with each other. They were used on different advertisements. * It's a honey of an O. (1979–2004) * It's Honey Nut Cheerios! (1979–1992; 2000–2004; 2014–Present) * It's Irrezzzzistable! (1992–1993) * Race for the taste! (1993–1995) * Little O, Big Taste! (1995–1999) * Nobody can say "No" to Honey Nut Cheerios. (1995–2004) * From the hive that's nuts about honey! (2004–2008) * Bee happy, Bee healthy! (2004–2013) * Must Be the Honey. (2013–Present, based on

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

's " Ride wit Me") * Good Goes Round. (2016–Present) * Have a Change of Heart. (2022–Present)

Health claims

Honey Nut Cheerios maintains most of the same health claims as the original Cheerios, due to its

soluble fiber Dietary fiber (in British English fibre) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by th ...

. Package nutritional information asserts that "three grams of soluble fiber daily from whole grain oat foods, like Honey Nut Cheerios, in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease . Honey Nut Cheerios has 0.75g per serving." As with Cheerios, the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deat ...

certified the cereal as "heart-healthy" for meeting the food criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol content. Honey Nut Cheerios also contains more sugar (9.6 Grams/serving) than General Mills' Cheerios, which contain 1.2 Grams/serving. Of the top six ingredients, three are sweeteners (sugar, brown sugar, and honey).Are Honey Nut Cheerios Healthy? We Look Inside the Box
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References

External links