Why I'm Ditching Peace Cereal -- It's No Longer Organic Options

[Craig Minowa]

Here is an email one of our readers sent to us:

For quite some time I ate Peace Cereal’s Essential 10. I liked it because it was a high-fiber cereal with not much sugar. And it was organic.

Then one day sitting at the breakfast table eating my Essential 10 I noticed the box no longer said Organic. Basically the same box design with minor changes to remove the Organic markings. I couldn’t believe it, so I went to their website. Sure enough, although they listed several other cereals as organic, Essential 10 was no longer so listed.

I immediately emailed one of the management people at Linden Hills Co-op, the co-op I shop at. It didn’t take long and he emailed me back. He had a box of Essential 10 and it definitely was labeled Organic. I went to the co-op. They had a few boxes of Essential 10 labeled Organic; most were not.

I wrote a letter to Peace Cereal telling them I was very unhappy and would no longer buy their products. They wrote back that the felt they could no longer be completely organic so that lower-income people could afford their product. That’s the kind of excuse I’d expect from Walmart. And, of course, it wasn’t long before they raised all their prices anyway.

A look at the Peace Cereal website shows that they now have only one cereal containing an organic ingredient. That ingredient is listed as a coating made from a Chai spice blend.

I think those of us who value organics have an obligation to abandon those manufacturers and vendors who abandon us. And I hope co-ops will discontinue Peace Cereal. I now eat a different Organic cereal—Kashi Autumn Wheat. I think we all can find products that keep the organic promise.

[eco-goddess]

Craig,
Good for you! I assume that you have stopped buying this cereal - which is what we should ALL do. The pressure is definitely rising "out there", and we all need to hold firm to our standards.
I own an organic restaurant in Carbondale, CO, and it's simply amazing to me how hard it can be to get organic ingredients at wholesale prices. Instead of compromising the menu, I have decided to change it to what meets my standards, while informing my customers of WHY these changes are being made. Knowledge is power - let's keep the power!!

Eco-Goddess

[Marie_79]

I used to eat Peace Cereal's Wild Berry Crisp every day until I bought a new box one time and it tasted awful. I checked the box and they changed the organic label on the front to a purple circle that said something about a new great taste. I checked the ingredients and sure enough, the formerly organic ingredients were replaced with conventional ingredients. The new great taste they referred to...I think it tastes fake, like candy. I never purchased this cereal again and unfortunately, I've never found a cereal I like as much as the original organic version.

I am disappointed in Peace Cereal, but most of all I feel deceived. I would like to think that companies that at one point featured organic ingredients would care about their consumers, but not this company.

[meredithk115]

Kashi is owned by Kelloggs who recently had a recall on tainted peanuts (I believe)

Kelloggs has a history of cutting corners and taking the easy way out...

[alter_ico]

Kashi is owned by Kelloggs who recently had a recall on tainted peanuts (I believe)

Kelloggs has a history of cutting corners and taking the easy way out...

Yes, I would avoid Kashi as well.

[tongangirl]

I hear ya, I wsa so tired of scouring Whole Foods for real organic foods. I am now buying most of my food at a local smaller ALL organic grocery store. I spend $1200 a month on food, so i hope more people will jump on the band wagon. Pretty soon there will be a new organic standard "really really organic" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[organicgramma]

Other food companies have done the same thing and it's really disappointing to say the least. They decide to change their product from organic to "natural", make an ever-so-slightly different label and hope that no one notices! That's deceptive advertising. Dannon used to sell an organic smoothie years ago. I would go to the store and buy all they had for my very sick husband. But one day, I just happened to scrutinize the label again and discovered that it was no longer organic! It was now "natural". I was not a happy camper. The only change they made to the label was replacing the word "organic" with "natural". I never bought another Dannon product after that (I boycott all the time). I don't trust any big food corporations. My breakfast consists of either eggs and chicken apple sausage, oatmeal and raisins or yogurt with berries and a little granola, all organic of course! I think we could all do with much less grains in our diet. That's where big companies make the most profits. We need to start eating like MY grandparents used to eat and grow some of our own food, if not all of it. You'll know exactly what you're eating! That's the BEST way to hurt the big agri businesses. In their pockets!!!

[coppermoon]

Bravo, Craig! Nice to see someone walk the walk and this is what we all need to do.

I did read something about Kellogg's and the CEO saying nobody cared whether the food was organic or not - HA
We need to let Kellogg and all the rest know that we DO care - we care BIG.

[AndyM]

Glad to hear someone else took the same action with Peace. My wife and I have been enjoying Peace cereals for at least a couple years in organic form. About 3-4 months ago, I noticed that our local grocer was no longer carrying organic Peace cereal, but only natural organic Peace. I never bought a box and asked the manager why the switch. He replied that he believes it is hard for them to source organic ingredients for their cereals, but I'm not convinced. It's sad if the market isn't there, but we were regularly buying 2-3 boxes/wk. We've since switched to Nature's Path Optimum organic cereals and love them. It also led us to make pancakes from scratch a lot more often instead of cereal. I just hope others do not follow Peace's lead. We always stay away from the big labels and support small organic as much as possible. Peace, or not...

Andy

[OrganicMan]

Yes, I would avoid Kashi as well.

We are never going to get rid of the Kelloggs and the General Mills. If they are providing an organic product that no other vendor is, I think we should support them and hope they will expand on it. If they do the same thing Peace Cereal did, we an always abandon them.

[mad-about-u]

Here is an email one of our readers sent to us:

For quite some time I ate Peace Cereal’s Essential 10. I liked it because it was a high-fiber cereal with not much sugar. And it was organic.

Then one day sitting at the breakfast table eating my Essential 10 I noticed the box no longer said Organic. Basically the same box design with minor changes to remove the Organic markings. I couldn’t believe it, so I went to their website. Sure enough, although they listed several other cereals as organic, Essential 10 was no longer so listed.

I immediately emailed one of the management people at Linden Hills Co-op, the co-op I shop at. It didn’t take long and he emailed me back. He had a box of Essential 10 and it definitely was labeled Organic. I went to the co-op. They had a few boxes of Essential 10 labeled Organic; most were not.

I wrote a letter to Peace Cereal telling them I was very unhappy and would no longer buy their products. They wrote back that the felt they could no longer be completely organic so that lower-income people could afford their product. That’s the kind of excuse I’d expect from Walmart. And, of course, it wasn’t long before they raised all their prices anyway.

A look at the Peace Cereal website shows that they now have only one cereal containing an organic ingredient. That ingredient is listed as a coating made from a Chai spice blend.

I think those of us who value organics have an obligation to abandon those manufacturers and vendors who abandon us. And I hope co-ops will discontinue Peace Cereal. I now eat a different Organic cereal—Kashi Autumn Wheat. I think we all can find products that keep the organic promise.

Check the internet. Kashi is owned by Kelloggs. No organics here.

mad about u

[OrganicMan]

Check the internet. Kashi is owned by Kelloggs. No organics here.

mad about u

You didn't look far enough.
http://kashi.com/search?query=autumn+wheat&commit=go

I'll admit that eating a Kellogg product is not the greatest thing in the world. But as I said, perhaps if we encourage them they will market more organic products. And that is, in fact, what we want—right?

[maradel]

The solution is to not eat manufactured foods. What's wrong with oatmeal or some other whole grain cereal? You can also make your own granola if you don't want hot cereal. That way you know exactly what's in it and you're not paying for a lot of extra processing, which only degrades the nutritional value of the food. You're also not paying for all that wasteful packaging.

[OrganicMan]

The solution is to not eat manufactured foods. What's wrong with oatmeal or some other whole grain cereal? You can also make your own granola if you don't want hot cereal. That way you know exactly what's in it and you're not paying for a lot of extra processing, which only degrades the nutritional value of the food. You're also not paying for all that wasteful packaging.

maradel, did you bother to check out the ingredients in the cereal I mentioned? Here they are: organic WHOLE GRAIN wheat, organic evaporated cane juice, natural flavor. I believe that would qualify as a whole grain cereal, even in your book. I hope you are not under the impression that oatmeal comes straight from the stalk to your bowl. Or that none of the products you use to make your granola have been processed in any way.

[meatismurder]

Please define "natural flavor."

[alter_ico]

Please define "natural flavor."

According to the Code of Federal Regulations (21CFR101.22:

(3) The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential
oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate,
or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the
flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice,
vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf
or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products,
or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is
flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural
essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in Secs. 182.10,
182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the
substances listed in Sec. 172.510 of this chapter.

Interpret away!

[fitness treadmil...]

I'm not sure that is is an excuse to drop Organic if it means you stay in business. That way they can at least keep some other products organic. Times are tough.

Fitness Treadmills