Nature's Path is my favorite cereal brand, and OPTIMUM Blueberry is my favorite of them all.I've been enjoying this cereal for well over 5 years.
It's organic, and full of wonderful beneficial whole grains etc. just read the ingredients list!
It has a mixture of textures, with "twigs", "puffs", flakes, seeds and the little dried blueberries.
It's great with soy milk, dairy milk, yogurt, and even right out of the box as a snack.
I haven't bought it for awhile because it never seems to go on sale anymore, so I was thrilled to find it here on sale for $2.20 a box!
I just got my shipment from Amazon, and want to add a few notes:
While the cereal seems very fresh, I couldn't find an expiration date anywhere on the boxes.
They have changed the packaging, making it even more eco-friendly, and also slightly reformulated the cereal. The box says "Now with 25% less sugar than our previous recipe" Yay! (Don't worry, if you've had this cereal before the change, the taste is still wonderful.) So the "Nutrition Facts" have changed (not drastically) from what Amazon shows, but the fiber has dropped from 10g to 7g. The serving size is still the same at 1 cup (55g).
Here are some of the differences that may be important to you:
Calories were 190, now 200
Protein was 8g, now 9g
Total Fat was 2.5g, now 3g (Still none are saturated fat)
Total Carbs were 40g, now 38g
Fiber was 10g, now 7g (Boo!)
Sugars were 16g, now 9g (Yay!)
Sodium was 200mg, now 230mg
The cinnamon flavor is very mild, I usually add more for flavor and health benefits. I also add a small amount of walnuts (for extra EFA's, taste and crunch), or pecans. Read Update below for more additions.
Unless you are hooked on the average sickeningly-sweet, unhealthy, over-processed mainstream cereals, I think you will love this as much as I do! If you want to try a box before you buy it in bulk here, I've found it at most health food stores, Fry's / Kroger's in their health food sections, and Sprouts.
Even if you are hooked on the other stuff, give this a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. I had bought this for my parents and their verdict is: Dad loves it, Mom likes it.
Update 6/6/09: I just responded with these comments in another review, and thought they might be helpful:
I too would enjoy more berries in the cereal, but it would probably make the price astronomical, so I usually add a little of "Just Tomatoes" brand of freeze dried mixed fruit which is yummy and has a good mix of fruit though I could do without the raisins, they're not so good freeze dried.
Just Tomatoes Just Fruit Munchies, 8-Ounce Tubs (Pack of 2)
They also have only blueberries
Just Tomatoes Just Blueberries, 8-Ounce Tub
plus strawberries, raspberries, apples, pineapple etc. just search "just tomatoes" without quotes in the grocery drop down in the search box.
I first found them at my local upscale grocery store (in smaller sized containers) and they are a little less expensive here, but I also like to support the local store, so I buy them from both places.
There is another brand that I haven't tried, but has gotten great reviews called Traverse Bay that has dried blueberries
Traverse Bay Dried Blueberries, 8-Ounce Bags (Pack of 3)
Traverse Bay Dried Blueberries, 4 lbs
You don't need to use a whole lot in the cereal so they last for awhile. One tip is to keep them in the freezer so they stay crunchy.
Hope this helps!
All six boxes have a sell by date of April 2012
The product description states that it contains 100% of the RDA for Vitamin B12.
The product delivered contains no B12 what so ever!
Nature's Path rep told me that they stopped fortifying their cereals in 2008.
The product is also on the non returnable list.
If one views all the other vendors on Amazon they all use the same incorrect description.
None of Nature's Path cereals are fortified with B12.
Caveat Emptor.Who would ever believe it would be enticing to hear a cereal product called a "crunchy fiber twig"? Well, it actually did appeal to me because I get so tired of nothing but mush in my cereal bowl as soon as I add the liquid. And this product did not disappoint, at least not where crispiness was concerned. I liked reading the box with the folksy, down home feeling used to convey the basic philosophy of the company and their own naturally biased view of their product. As always though, it's up to the consumer to separate the hype from the facts.
The box I bought in the grocery store is different from the one pictured here and I think there has been recent repackaging and reformulating of the cereal. I notice here on Amazon that the product description specifically says there is no vitamin B12 or Folic Acid in this product so that must have been a sticking point before. I found that the cereal itself had a quite nice "nutty" taste and the fiber twigs are very crunchy. A serving size is quoted to be 3/4 cup which is 200 calories. The sugar content per serving is 9g and sodium count is 230mg. The description of the sugar source is "evaporated cane juice". From reading the nutritional list I know not to count on this cereal to supply any appreciable amount of my daily requirements for vitamins or minerals. There are 13 ingredients listed for this cereal. I find it quite interesting that it is called Blueberry Cinnamon Flax when flax is listed as ingredient #5, blueberries as #10 and cinnamon as #12. But something we consumers can easily forget is that these ingredients are listed in order of their volume within the combination. I poured out some dry cereal and tasted each item separately. There is a definite sweet coating on each piece with the exception of the blueberries which have a concentration of their own sweetness from being freeze-dried.
My findings are that the flakes get soggy almost immediately but the "crunchy fiber twigs" stayed crunchy all the way to the final twig, and I'm a dawdler over my cereal. It took me more than 15 minutes to finish the bowl because I was reading and the twigs were still crisp. This cereal does not contain flax SEEDS and it never claims to. If you are expecting seeds, you will be disappointed. There are not many blueberries, but the ones here are very flavorful. In order to get as many blueberries as I would like the box would have to contain almost half blueberries and that is not just ridiculous, it would also be cost prohibitive. I simply accept that as a fact. I used Kefir instead of milk for the yogurt cultures I want and added a fresh peach. This combination (even at the 3/4 cup recommended portion size) lasted me all morning. I was impressed. To begin with I had been slightly worried about the cinnamon flavor in the cereal because that isn't something I'm particularly fond of. I need not have worried because I could not actually taste the cinnamon at all. If you look forward to that taste, you will have some objections to the company using that as a selling point for this product. On another day I took a small zip closure bag of this cereal with me when I knew stopping for lunch would be a problem. It was really good dry from the bag and kept me from giving in to the temptation to stop at a fast food restaurant. Now that was a bonus. I plan to order the six box package here on Amazon. The price is virtually the same as in my grocery store chain, but my store has a monopoly in our area and they stock what they chose when they chose. This is my way of spending MY money the way I want.Even when I could find this easily it was always closer to the $5 a box cost, but here on Amazon its very affordable. Tastes great, and keeps you full until lunch at least.
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