On the last trip or two to the grocery store, Mike and I noticed the addition of 3 cereals in the cereal aisle, each for the low price of $2.50. The items of interest were none other than the Boo Berry, Franken Berry, and Count Chocula. Not having seen these products all year only to show up the month before Halloween makes me think they are “seasonal” cereals.

So, we picked up a box of Boo Berry. As appealing as Boo Berry seem to be as a kid (I never had it then), it manages to combine the worst aspects of Fruity Pebbles and Lucky Charms. Not only is it loaded with those little cruncy marshmellows that Lucky Charms has, instead of the plain toasted oat bits, the “meat” of the cereal is little purple ghost-things. The marshmellows are enough to turn your milk colors; I can’t imagine what the Fruity Pebble-like powers the purple bits might have over your milk.

I must admit, we did eat the box, though it was eaten more like a candy. I couldn’t stomach the thought of actually eating it with milk during anytime of the day, much less first thing in the morning.

The Boo Berry link is of unknown quality. It is blocked here at the lab because it is in the “Tasteless” category according to Websense. Makes me wonder, since the Boo Berry Worship Cult is not filtered.

One thing I noted during my cereal research this morning was the lack of information about these products on the General Mills web page. Certain cereals on the page (Cheerios, Trix, Chex, and Wheaties to name a few) are broken out as brands, while all the rest cereals are stuck under the “Big G Cereals” brand.

Another thing I learned in my cereal research was the origin of Lucky Charms:

The cereal was invented in 1963 by then vice-president of General Mills, John Holahan. Holahan claimed to have gotten the idea for the cereal when he happened upon some orange marshmallow peanuts, a candy common in circuses at the time. Holahan cut up several of the peanuts and sprinkled them over Cheerios, another oat-bit cereal, and he “knew we had a winner.”

How disgusting is that? Circus peanuts…