Raisin Bran


Raisin bran is a breakfast cereal containing raisins and bran flakes. Raisin bran is manufactured by several companies under a variety of brand names, including the popularly known Kellogg's Raisin Bran, General Mills' Total Raisin Bran, and Post Cereals' Raisin Bran. This popular breakfast cereal is a staple in households all over the United States because of its advertised nutritional value.

History

Skinner's Raisin-BRAN was the first raisin bran brand on the market, introduced in the United States in 1926 by the Skinner Manufacturing Company. For 17 years, Skinner had ownership over the product's name, until Kellogg's and Post began to sell their own versions of raisin bran. With concerns of losing money within grocery store sales, Skinner filed a cease-and-desist in an attempt to keep ownership over his raisin bran product.
The name "Raisin-BRAN" was at one time trademarked by Skinner, however in 1944 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found:

Ingredients

Kellogg's Raisin Bran, according to their Smartlabel, contains the following ingredients: whole grain wheat, raisins, wheat bran, sugar, brown sugar syrup, malt flavor, salt, and assorted vitamins and minerals. The cereal's vitamin D3 supplementation is made from lanolin, which is an animal product, rendering it as a non-vegan breakfast cereal.

Health effects

Raisin bran cereal is commonly referred to as a "healthy" breakfast cereal because of its high fiber content, but according to , Kellogg's Raisin Bran actually has a low nutrition rating.
In 1991, Kellogg's complained that WIC program guidelines did not allow for the purchase of Kellogg's Raisin Bran for containing too much sugar. Currently, with 17 grams of sugar, it actually has a higher content of sugar than Lucky Charms, Reese's Puffs, and Cocoa Krispies.
On the other hand, Kellogg's Sultana Bran received 4.5 stars out of 5 on the Australian Government's Health Star Rating System. In addition, a plain serving of Kellogg's Raisin Bran provides 80% of the Daily Value of manganese and 6% of the Daily Value of potassium, both important nutrients for the body.
Research suggests that eating commercially produced raisin bran containing sugared raisins elevates dental acids to plaque-forming levels, while home-made raisin bran, created by adding unsugared raisins to bran flakes, does not produce this effect.

Manufacturers