Cheerios vs Honey Nut Cheerios: How Much Sugar? 2 g vs 12 g

Original Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios both list 140 calories per serving, but their labels diverge sharply on sugar: 2 g total sugars for Original versus 12 g for Honey Nut, with serving sizes of 1 1/2 cup and 1 cup. Honey Nut lists three added sweeteners (sugar, honey and brown sugar syrup) plus canola and/or sunflower oil and natural almond flavor, while Original lists sugar only. This article puts the label facts side by side without ranking the two, so you can weigh them against your own needs.

Key takeaways

• Per serving, Original lists 2 g total sugars (1 g added) and Honey Nut lists 12 g total sugars (12 g added), both at 140 calories, with different serving sizes.
• Honey Nut lists sugar, honey and brown sugar syrup as sweeteners and adds oil and natural almond flavor. Original lists sugar only, third after oats and corn starch.
• Honey Nut carries the allergen statement 'Contains almond ingredients.' Original's cheerios.com statement reads 'Does not contain declaration obligatory allergens.'
• Both brand pages describe the cereals as gluten free. Neither ingredient list shows a color additive.

Cheerios vs Honey Nut Cheerios at a glance: the side-by-side label table

The table compares the per-serving figures on the cheerios.com pages for Original Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios, with serving weights from Open Food Facts where noted.

Label item	Original Cheerios (8.9 oz box)	Honey Nut Cheerios (10.8 oz box)
Serving size	1 1/2 cup (39 g per Open Food Facts)	1 cup (37 g per Open Food Facts)
Servings per container	About 6	About 8
Calories	140	140
Total fat	2.5 g	2 g
Saturated fat	0.5 g	0 g
Sodium	190 mg (8% DV)	210 mg (9% DV)
Total carbohydrate	29 g	30 g
Dietary fiber	4 g (2 g soluble)	3 g (1 g soluble)
Total sugars	2 g (1 g added, 2% DV)	12 g (12 g added, 24% DV)
Protein	5 g	3 g
Iron	12.6 mg (70% DV)	3.6 mg (20% DV)
Whole grain per serving (brand page)	34 g	22 g
Sweeteners listed	Sugar	Sugar, honey, brown sugar syrup
Allergen statement	Does not contain declaration obligatory allergens	Contains almond ingredients

The rest of this article works through the differences, starting with sugar, where the two labels differ most.

How much sugar is in Cheerios vs Honey Nut Cheerios per serving?

Original Cheerios lists 2 g total sugars per 1 1/2 cup serving (39 g), of which 1 g is added sugars. Honey Nut Cheerios lists 12 g total sugars per 1 cup serving (37 g), all of it added sugars. On the Nutrition Facts panel, the 1 g of added sugar in Original is 2% of the Daily Value, and the 12 g in Honey Nut is 24%.

The Honey Nut brand page suggests mixing in Original Cheerios for a lower-sugar bowl. That suggestion comes from the brand, and the label does not state how much sugar a mixed bowl would contain.

Sugar can also appear under more than one name on a single label. 6 Scanned Labels That List Sugar More Than One Way shows how that happens on other products.

Which added sweeteners does each cereal list, and in what order?

Original Cheerios lists one added sweetener, sugar, which appears third in the ingredient list after whole grain oats and corn starch. Honey Nut Cheerios lists three sweeteners: sugar, honey and brown sugar syrup. Sugar is second, after whole grain oats, followed by corn starch, honey and brown sugar syrup.

Under US labeling rules, ingredients are listed in descending order of weight, so the order shows which ingredients make up more of the product than others. The label does not disclose how much honey, sugar or brown sugar syrup each Honey Nut Cheerios contains, so the three sweeteners cannot be ranked against each other by amount.

Sweetener blends appear on other scanned products as well. Sweetener Stacks: 4 Scanned Drinks That Blend Sweeteners covers that pattern in beverages.

How do the ingredient lists differ beyond sweeteners?

Both ingredient lists include whole grain oats, corn starch, salt, tripotassium phosphate and vitamin E (mixed tocopherols), which the brand says is added to preserve freshness. The differences are concentrated in fats and flavorings.

• Honey Nut Cheerios lists canola and/or sunflower oil. The Open Food Facts entry for the Honey Nut barcode lists canola oil only.
• Honey Nut Cheerios lists natural almond flavor. Original Cheerios lists no almond ingredient.
• Original Cheerios lists no oil and no honey.
• Original's brand page says 'No artificial flavors or colors.' Honey Nut's brand page says 'no artificial flavors and artificial colors.'

The vitamin and mineral lists are nearly identical, as covered in the vitamins section below.

What allergen statements appear on Original Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios?

Original Cheerios carries the cheerios.com allergen statement 'Does not contain declaration obligatory allergens,' while Honey Nut Cheerios carries 'Contains almond ingredients.' In the ingredient list, the almond appears as natural almond flavor.

The FDA lists tree nuts as one of the nine major food allergens in the United States, so an almond declaration is the kind of statement readers with tree nut allergies look for. The cited sources do not disclose how much almond protein, if any, is present in the natural almond flavor, or whether that level could trigger a reaction. The label does not answer those questions.

People managing a food allergy may want to read the full label on the box they are holding and speak with a clinician or allergist about specific products.

Are both cereals gluten free, and what do the brand pages say about flavors and colors?

Both brand pages describe the cereals as gluten free. Under FDA's 2013 gluten-free labeling rule, a US label may use 'gluten-free' only when the food contains less than 20 parts per million gluten.

The brand pages also make separate statements about flavors and colors. Original's page says 'No artificial flavors or colors.' Honey Nut's page says 'no artificial flavors and artificial colors.' Neither ingredient list shows a color additive. The label figures do not describe how the oats are sourced or tested, so the gluten claim is best read as the brand's statement on the package and web page.

How do serving sizes change the per-100 g sugar comparison?

Per 100 g, Original Cheerios works out to roughly 5 g total sugars (2 g per 39 g), and Honey Nut Cheerios to roughly 32 g (12 g per 37 g). These figures are calculated from the serving weights and are not printed on either label. They show that the difference is not only a matter of portion size.

The two packages describe portions by volume: 1 1/2 cup for Original and 1 cup for Honey Nut. Both list 140 calories per serving, so the same calorie count covers a larger volume of Original. Shoppers who pour by cup rather than weigh their cereal may not match the serving printed on the panel. Per-100 g figures help with comparison, but the Nutrition Facts panel on each box remains the reference.

What do the FDA added-sugar Daily Value and Dietary Guidelines say about these numbers?

The FDA's Daily Value for added sugars is 50 g per day on a 2,000-calorie diet, and the Dietary Guidelines advise limiting added sugars to under 10% of calories. Using the FDA figure, Original's 1 g of added sugar is 2% of the Daily Value, and Honey Nut's 12 g is 24%.

The 10% guidance is a share of calories, not a gram figure. On a 2,000-calorie diet, 10% of calories is 200 calories, which equals about 50 g of added sugar at 4 calories per gram.

How do Original and Honey Nut Cheerios compare in vitamins, minerals and fiber?

Both labels list a similar core set of vitamins and minerals, including calcium carbonate, iron, zinc, niacinamide, vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, C and D3, and folic acid. Honey Nut Cheerios also lists vitamin B2 (riboflavin), which does not appear on the Original list.

Fiber is 4 g per serving for Original (2 g soluble) and 3 g for Honey Nut (1 g soluble). Iron differs most: 12.6 mg (70% DV) in Original versus 3.6 mg (20% DV) in Honey Nut. Protein is 5 g in Original and 3 g in Honey Nut.

The labels do not explain why the iron amounts differ, and the cited sources do not describe any difference in fortification approach between the two products.

Where can readers check these labels and related sweetener guidance?

Start with the cheerios.com product pages and the Open Food Facts entries for Original (barcode 016000275263) and Honey Nut (barcode 016000124790). The Open Food Facts listings match the brand ingredient lists except for the oil entry noted above. For background, the FDA's added sugars page explains the Daily Value, and its gluten labeling page explains the 20 ppm threshold. The Barebells vs Ryse Loaded Protein comparison applies the same side-by-side label method to a different product pair.

The following details are not disclosed in the cited sources: the amounts of honey, sugar and brown sugar syrup in Honey Nut Cheerios; whether the natural almond flavor contains almond protein at a level that triggers reactions; glyphosate or pesticide residue levels in either cereal; reformulation dates or history; and nutrition with milk added, since the figures here describe the product as packaged.

These label figures describe the packaged product and cannot show how either cereal affects any individual. The sources do not address infants, people with tree nut allergies beyond the label statement, or people following medically restricted diets, so those readers should check with a clinician.

Want to run the same check on a box in your own kitchen? The Aurascan iPhone app has a free tier and explains each ingredient on a scanned label one by one, with cited evidence, instead of a single score. Scan the product yourself and read the ingredient list for yourself.