Filed under: Tastings, Frugal Food, Breakfast, Grains, Magazines, Stores & Shopping

Since Kellogg's cereals are about to go up in price, taking a look at some of the lower-priced alternatives to name brand cereals seems prudent. This month's Consumer Reports happily obliges us with their taste test of store brand frosted flakes (Kellogg's Frosted Flakes), toasted oats (GM Cheerios), and frosted mini wheats (Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats).

Frosted flake cereals are the least nutritious of the bunch, with about 120 calories, 12 grams of sugar and only 1 gram of fiber. Kellogg's well-known brand topped the taste test, tied with the lower-priced Malt-O-Meal version of the cereal. Other brands tasted slightly bitter. CR also noted that a few turned the milk bright yellow. Sounds like it's best to stick to the familiar in this case.

Toasted oats all did fairly well, with Malt-O-Meal and Stop&Shop brands coming out on top, along with the classic from General Mills. The runners up included Trader Joe's, Albertson's, Safeway, Publix and Target/Market Pantry, as well as a few others. All of the brands made their cereals with whole grains (4g fiber per 115 calorie serving), but some of the lower-priced brands tasted stale, so you might have to take a chance on your store brand and see how it fares. You can always make cereal bars if it doesn't work out.

All of the mini wheats cereals did well, with a nice balance of the sugary side and the crunch of the wheat. The best, along with Kellogg's Mini Wheats, were Malt-O-Meal and Kroger brands. The name brand was more than double the price of the store brands for this cereal, so it is definitely a good idea to opt for those over the name brand.