by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

VRG Research Director

A concerned reader wrote to The VRG in June 2011 asking about the natural flavor listed as an ingredient in Kashi’s® Whole Wheat Biscuits Autumn Wheat® cold cereal. He asked The VRG to look into the matter.

We emailed and called Kashi® about the natural flavor in the Autumn Wheat® cereal and received quick responses as well as a follow-up call back by the same consumer specialist one day after our initial inquiry. Victor told us that the natural flavor in the Autumn Wheat® cereal is “natural maple brown sugar flavor” composed of “maple syrup and brown sugar.” Victor added that “barley malt flavor is added to enhance the flavor of both.” According to Victor, Kashi’s® Autumn Wheat® cereal is all-vegetable.

The VRG further inquired about the processing method for the brown sugar. Victor called me back to say that no cow bone char was used to filter the brown sugar.

We also received an email from Rick, another Kashi® consumer specialist, who wrote generally about Kashi’s® natural flavors: “The natural flavors we use in our products are a proprietary blend of plant and/or herb extracts, nothing from any animal, egg, or dairy origin. All of the ingredients are natural and do not contain MSG.”

A list of Kashi products that do not contain ingredients derived from animals, eggs, dairy or honey appears on their website. These are the following:

Ready-to-eat cereals:

• Kashi® Autumn Wheat® cereal – organic
• Kashi® Cinnamon Harvest® cereal – organic
• Kashi® Island Vanilla® cereal – organic
• Kashi® Strawberry Fields® cereal – organic
• Kashi® Heart to Heart® Oat Flakes & Blueberry Clusters
• Kashi® GOLEAN Crisp! TM Toasted Berry Crumble
• Kashi® 7 Whole Grain Puffs
• Kashi® 7 Whole Grain Nuggets
• Kashi® 7 Whole Grain Flakes

Hot cereals:

• Kashi® Heart to Heart® Maple Instant Oatmeal
• Kashi® Heart to He art® Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal

Wholesome snacks:

• Kashi® Heart to Heart® Original Woven Wheat Cracker
• Kashi® Heart to Heart® Roasted Garlic Woven Wheat Cracker

Frozen entrées:

• Kashi® Black Bean Mango entrée
• Kashi® Mayan Harvest Bake entrée
• Kashi® Tuscan Veggie Bake entrée

For more information about ingredients, see:
http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php
http://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=8
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guidetoveganandvegetarianfoodingredients/id443466136?mt=8
http://www.vrg.org/mobile_apps.php

Your support allows us to continue this ingredient research and make
updates as new information arises. Please consider making a donation.
https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.