Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal — DUMP

Name: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal
Brand: General Mills

Munch or Dump rates Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal by General Mills DUMP — score 17/90.

Whole grain wheat leads the list, but sugar is second and three more sweeteners follow, landing at roughly 29g sugar per 100g. Add maltodextrin, caramel color and BHT and you have a textbook ultra-processed dessert cereal. The whole-grain and 'good source of vitamins' messaging is fortification bolted onto a sugar delivery system.

Why this verdict

Four sweeteners — sugar, fructose, maltodextrin and dextrose — with about 29g sugar per 100g.
Maltodextrin, caramel color and BHT mark it as an ultra-processed formulation.
Classic hyper-palatable triad: sugar + refined oil + refined starch, engineered for craving.
Whole grain wheat is first, but the additive stack and sugars define the product.

Ingredients (12)

Whole Grain Wheat (safe) — Genuine whole grain; source of fiber and the reason this beats most frosted cereals.
Sugar (moderate) — Added for sweetness, can contribute to calorie content.
rice flour (moderate) — Refined starch that completes the fast-carb triad.
CANOLA OIL (moderate) — Refined vegetable oil.
fructose (caution) — Yet another added sweetener, confirming an engineered sweetness system.
Maltodextrin (moderate) — Highly processed starch-derived carbohydrate used as a carrier and texturizer; spikes blood sugar readily.
Dextrose (caution) — Second added sweetener.
trisodium phosphate (caution) — Industrial phosphate used as a processing aid; frequent high phosphate intake is a cardiovascular and kidney concern.
Soy Lecithin (safe) — Common emulsifier, generally benign in these amounts.
caramel color (caution) — Artificial coloring for a browned look, no nutritional purpose.
BHT (caution) — Synthetic antioxidant preservative added to protect freshness; a processing-signal additive.
cinnamon (safe) — Real spice; the one genuinely wholesome note.

Healthier alternatives

Grape-Nuts Cereal
Cascadian Farm Organic Blueberry Almond Crunch Cereal
Mesa Sunrise Gluten Free Cereal Flakes