Cascadian Farms is a food company that markets 75 different organic products. In addition to granola bars, frozen fruit and vegetables, fruit spreads, and fruit concentrates, the company offers several different types of granola cereal. The cereals are made with organic oats, organic crisp rice and organic sweeteners. While “organic” and “granola” make the cereal sound like a healthy food choice, understand the nutrition information before making it a regular part of your diet.
Types
Cascadian Farms offers five different kinds of granola. Basic flavors include maple and brown sugar, oats and honey and cinnamon raisin. A dark chocolate almond version features almonds and chocolate chips and a fruit and nut version features cherries, raisins, cranberries, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
Calories and Macronutrients
A 2/3-cup serving of cinnamon raisin, maple and brown sugar, and oats and honey granolas contains between 210 and 230 calories. In the dark chocolate almond and fruit and nut flavors, a 3/4-cup serving provides 210 calories. Cinnamon raisin is the lowest in fat, with just 3 g. All the other flavors contain between 5 g and 6 g of fat. None of the cereals contain more than 1 g of saturated fat. The protein content of the cereals ranges from 4 g to 5g and carbohydrates from 38 g to 42 g.
Additional Nutrition Information
The granolas all contain 3 g of fiber per serving with the exception of the dark chocolate almond flavor with 4 g. Sodium content ranges from 95 mg per serving for the fruit and nut variety to 200 mg in the cinnamon raisin flavor. The granolas all provide 2 percent of the recommended dietary allowance for calcium and between 2 and 8 percent for iron.
Sugars
The granolas contain between 13 and 16 g of sugar per serving, equivalent to 3 to 4 teaspoons-worth. The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugars to no more than 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 teaspoons per day for men. While some of the sugars occur naturally in the versions with raisins or other dried fruits, much is from added sources like organic honey, organic sugar or molasses. In fact, the second ingredient listed for all the granolas is some form of sugar.
Considerations
If you are watching your weight, consider trading in calorie-dense granola for lower calorie cereals offered by Cascadian Farms. In one cup of Purely O’s or Honey Nut O’s there are only 110 calories and 1 g of fat. One cup of Cinnamon Crunch also provides 110 calories with 3 g of fat. These cereals offer just 3 g to 8 g of sugar, half or less than that in the granolas.
