Buc Wheats was a boxed
breakfast cereal
Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies.
Although warm, cooked cereals li ...
produced by
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
from 1971 until the early 1980s. The cereal consisted of toasted
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
flakes (originally made with
buckwheat
Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum'') or common buckwheat is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. Buckwheat originated around the 6th millennium BCE in the region of what ...
) with a sweet
maple
''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
-flavored glaze baked onto them. After several years in production, General Mills replaced the maple glaze with a
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of 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 pl ...
flavored glaze, an unpopular change; sales fell, and General Mills discontinued production of the cereal around 1983.
Buc Wheats Cereal
from MrBreakfast.com
Nutritional value
According to the 1970s cereal boxes, Buc Wheats cereal was highly nutritious and contained 100% of the minimum daily requirements for vitamins
Vitamins are organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism in suff ...
and iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
.
About
Buc Wheats cereal contained wheat flakes mixed with buckwheat and had the appearance of bran flakes, having a similar color and texture, but were lighter in weight. Buc Wheats was coated with a maple syrup glaze, giving it a unique flavor. General Mills replaced the original maple glaze with a honey glaze. The new Buc Wheats were said to taste like a sweet and sticky bowl of Wheaties
Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring list of athletes on Wheaties boxes, prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originall ...
. Most consumers did not like the change.
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In 1974 Steve Karmen
Steve Karmen (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer known for his jingles, including "I Love New York", " Call Nationwide, 'Cause Nationwide Is On Your Side", and " Here Comes the King." The King of Jingles, as he is informally known, has ...
, a New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
composer, produced a catchy little song for Buc Wheats titled, "Feelin' Like A Million Bucks".
References
{{General Mills
General Mills cereals
Products introduced in 1971
Products and services discontinued in 1983
Buckwheat dishes