General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal: Labelgrade B- (70/100)
B- 70 / 100 — Very low saturated fat, high sodium per 100g, and substantial fiber.
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General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal delivers 2g of protein and 110 calories per 3/4 cup (28g) (USDA FDC 610432). Per 100g that’s 7.1g of protein; per oz, 2g. The Labelgrade is B- (70 / 100): Very low saturated fat, high sodium per 100g, and substantial fiber.
Why this Labelgrade
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | C | 61 / 100 | 7.1g per 100g — below the high-protein bar; not the right product for protein hunting |
| Ingredient quality | B | 75 / 100 | 20 ingredients, recognizable, no significant additive flags |
| Saturated fat load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0g saturated fat — perfect |
| Sodium load | D | 42 / 100 | 160mg per serving (162mg per oz) — high; structural for cured/preserved foods |
| Sugar load | C | 64 / 100 | 9g sugar; USDA omits the added-sugar line, but the ingredients list a sweetener — scored as added, not naturally-occurring |
| Fiber | B+ | 80 / 100 | 1.99g per serving — good |
| Overall | B- | 70 / 100 | Weighted blend: protein 25% · ingredients 22% · saturated fat 18% · sodium 15% · sugar 12% · fiber 8% |
The grade lands where it does because two forces are fighting. Most boxed cereal is dessert-adjacent, and the score tracks added sugar against whole-grain fiber — Honey Nut Cheerios has real oat fiber on the good side of that ledger (the reason it clears the kids’-cereal pack), but a sugar-and-honey coating and a notable salt load on the other. The result is an honest B-: a step above the sugar-first bowls, a step below the cereals that keep the oats and skip the sweetener.
The oat story is real — and it’s why this isn’t a junk cereal
It’s easy to be cynical about a cartoon-bee breakfast cereal, but the foundation here is legitimate. Whole grain oats are the first ingredient by weight, and oats are the rare cereal grain with a genuine, FDA-recognized health claim: the soluble fiber (beta-glucan) in oats can help lower LDL cholesterol. That’s the substance behind the brand, and it’s what produces the ~2g of fiber per serving and the B+ on the fiber dimension — modest in absolute terms, but enough to separate this from a sugar-coated corn or rice cereal that brings essentially none.
The “nut” in the name is mostly flavor (there are no actual nuts; it’s natural almond flavor), and the oat bran listed third adds a little more fiber. The honest summary: the oats are doing real nutritional work, which is exactly why a cereal with 9g of sugar still manages a passing grade. Strip the sweetener and you’d have plain Cheerios — one of the better-graded everyday cereals there is.
How it compares
| Product | Protein per serving | Per 100 g | Per oz | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal (this product) | 2g | 7.1g | 2g | 110 |
| Post Honey Roasted Bunches Of Oats Cereal, Honey Roasted | 4g | 7g | 2g | 220 |
| General Mills Rice Chex Cereal | 3g | 7.5g | 2.1g | 150 |
| Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Cereal | 2.76g | 7.9g | 2.2g | 114 |
| Plain cooked chicken breast (benchmark) | — | 31g | 8.8g | ~165 |
What “honey nut” actually means on the label
The name does a lot of soft-focus work, so it’s worth reading the ingredient list literally. The sweetness is not mostly honey: sugar is the second ingredient, ahead of honey, and brown sugar syrup appears further down too. Honey is in there, but it’s part of a three-source sweetener stack, and together they put 9g of sugar in a 28g bowl — a high ratio for the serving. The USDA entry happens not to print an added-sugar number, but the label makes the source unambiguous; we score it as added, not as the “naturally-occurring” fruit sugar the missing line might imply.
None of this makes it a bad cereal — it makes it a sweetened one, and an honest shopper should treat “honey nut” as a flavor name rather than a health signal. If the 9g matters to you (it adds up fast for kids eating two bowls), plain Cheerios deliver the same oats and the same fiber with a fraction of the sugar. And remember the milk: dry, this is a 2g-protein cereal, but half a cup of milk roughly triples the protein and rounds it into an actual breakfast — while adding its own calories and a little more sugar.
Scope
This page covers General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal, UPC 00016000483668, as represented in USDA Branded Foods FDC 610432. General Mills sells multiple variants in this product line — other sizes, flavors, or fat levels may have different macros and Labelgrade scores. Manufacturers periodically reformulate; always cross-reference the actual package label, especially if you have allergies or dietary restrictions.
Ingredients (from the USDA Branded Foods entry)
WHOLE GRAIN OATS, SUGAR, OAT BRAN, CORN STARCH, HONEY, BROWN SUGAR SYRUP, SALT, TRIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, CANOLA OIL, NATURAL ALMOND FLAVOR. VITAMIN E (MIXED TOCOPHEROLS) ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS.VITAMINS AND MINERALS: CALCIUM CARBONATE, ZINC AND IRON (MINERAL NUTRIENTS), VITAMIN C (SODIUM ASCORBATE), A B VITAMIN (NIACINAMIDE), VITAMIN B6 (PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE), VITAMIN B2 (RIBOFLAVIN), VITAMIN B1 (THIAMIN MONONITRATE), VITAMIN A (PALMITATE), A B VITAMIN (FOLIC ACID), VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D3.
Where to buy
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 3/4 cup (28g)
See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (3/4 cup (28g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 110 |
| Protein | 2g |
| Total Fat | 1.5g |
| Saturated Fat | 0g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 22g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1.99g |
| Total Sugars | 9g |
| Sodium | 160mg |
| Cholesterol | 0mg |
| Calcium | 100mg |
| Iron | 4.5mg |
| Potassium | 115mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal · UPC 00016000483668. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains no listed meat or fish
no wheat, barley, rye, or malt detected in USDA ingredient list
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Honey Nut Cheerios a healthy cereal?
It's a middle-of-the-pack cereal — better than the frosted and fruit-flavored bowls, not as good as plain or unsweetened oats. The upside is genuine: whole grain oats are the first ingredient, so it carries ~2g of fiber and the cholesterol-lowering oat story General Mills built the brand on. The catch is the second ingredient: sugar. At 9g per small bowl it's sweet enough that the 'honey nut' name is carrying real added sugar, not just a whisper of honey. A reasonable everyday cereal if you like it, but not a low-sugar one.
Why does Honey Nut Cheerios score a B- (70/100)?
Oat fiber and zero saturated fat are what earn it a passing grade — fiber scores a B+ here, and that's exactly why it out-grades the sugar-first kids' cereals that have almost none. Two things pull it down to a B-: 9g of sugar (a C — high for a 28g serving), and a sodium load of 160mg that reads as high on a per-100g basis (a D). So: real oats lift it, the honey-and-sugar coating and the salt hold it back.
How much sugar is in Honey Nut Cheerios, and is it really 'naturally occurring'?
9g of sugar per 3/4-cup (28g) serving. The USDA Branded Foods entry doesn't break out an added-sugar line, but don't read that as 'no added sugar' — the ingredient list names sugar (the second ingredient), honey, and brown sugar syrup. Those are added sweeteners, which is why we score the sugar as added rather than naturally-occurring. For a small bowl, 9g is on the sweet side; that single number is the main reason this isn't an A-range cereal.
What's the serving size, and does it include milk?
These numbers are for 3/4 cup (28g) of dry cereal — a standard bowl pour, and milk is not included. Adding 1/2 cup of dairy milk contributes roughly 4g of protein and ~100mg of calcium (on top of the 100mg already fortified in the cereal), but also ~60 calories and a few grams of milk sugar. So a real bowl with milk is more protein-balanced than the 2g dry figure suggests — though the cereal itself is still a carbohydrate food, not a protein one.
Is there a better-graded cereal to pick instead?
If you want more fiber and protein in the same aisle, [Kellogg's Raisin Bran](/kelloggs-raisin-bran-cereal-202-5-lbr) grades higher (B) on the strength of its bran fiber, and engineered bowls like Kashi GO or Catalina Crunch beat it on both protein and fiber. The cleanest swap, if you specifically like Cheerios, is plain (Original) Cheerios — same oats, far less sugar. Honey Nut earns its B-, but most of the alternatives win on the dimension that capped it: sugar.
When was this data last verified?
2026-06-05, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 610432. We re-verify top-traffic pages monthly and update within 7 days when a manufacturer reformulates.