Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and Coco Pops in the UK are no longer made with whole grains of rice, FoodNavigator reports. Rice Krispies now use rice flour and Coco Pops use rice flour and cornflour, a change the company puts down to “changing weather conditions” affecting the availability and quality of rice and grains.
A company spokesperson said the updated recipes were assessed for taste, appearance and texture, and that the products remain non-HFSS, with no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners, and still provide fibre, vitamin D and iron.
The practical change for shoppers is on the label. Both cereals now use wheat gluten as an ingredient, so they must say “contains wheat gluten” rather than the previous “may contain gluten”, which only reflected cross-contact in the factory. Packets carry a large blue ‘Allergen update’ circle on the front to alert people with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy.
The move is part of a wider pattern. FoodNavigator notes that Pladis cut the cocoa in the coating of McVitie’s Penguin and Club bars to the point where they must be described as ‘chocolate flavoured’, after extreme weather and crop disease drove cocoa prices up. Cocoa and orange juice suppliers are also adapting recipes as weather disrupts production.
For rice growers and buyers, the story shows crop weather reaching the supermarket shelf: a change in what a field delivers is now changing the recipe of a long-established breakfast product.
Photo: Chris Quintana / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: FoodNavigator
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