# Total Cereal Going Off Market? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046 "2007-07-16T23:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/1 "2007-07-16T23:18:52Z")
Well, my Dad came home from the supermarket, & told me that _Total_ cereal was being taken off the market. True or false? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/2 "2007-07-16T23:26:12Z")
Nothing in any of my searches, including Google news and the General Mills website. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/3 "2007-07-17T00:08:36Z")
I don’t see any evidence that the cereal (which comes in quite a few varieties) is being discontinued. Are you sure your Dad didn’t hear that that _particular supermarket_ was no longer going to stock it? Perhaps he didn’t see it on the shelf, and when he asked for it he was told that they were no longer selling it. I have to go to two different markets for my favorite cereals, because one market stopped selling one variety, and the other market stopped selling the other variety. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/4 "2007-07-17T01:44:34Z")
Your grocery store dropping it would be my guess as well. They probably wanted to make room for the Frosted Kiddie Sugar Bomb Movie Character Shaped Cereal of the Month, looked at the sales numbers and decided Total wasn’t popular enough to keep. Which would be odd as Wikipedia describes it as one of the most popualr cereals in the US. Which I find odd as the last time I tried it, it tasted like chewing a vitamin pill rather than cereal. I guess they’ve managed to mask the flavor of “good for you” since then. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/5 "2007-07-17T20:27:47Z")
[QUOTE=SpoilerVirgin] I don’t see any evidence that the cereal (which comes in quite a few varieties) is being discontinued. Are you sure your Dad didn’t hear that that _particular supermarket_ was no longer going to stock it? Perhaps he didn’t see it on the shelf, and when he asked for it he was told that they were no longer selling it. I have to go to two different markets for my favorite cereals, because one market stopped selling one variety, and the other market stopped selling the other variety. [/QUOTE] Probably Dad misheard it. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/6 "2007-07-17T20:39:49Z")
So people actually eat _Total_? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just cut up some cardboard and have it with milk? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/7 "2007-07-17T20:41:17Z")
[QUOTE=Can Handle the Truth] So people actually eat _Total_? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just cut up some cardboard and have it with milk? [/QUOTE] Total Raisin is like a Raisin Bran, without all of the sogginess. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/8 "2007-07-17T20:45:04Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] Total Raisin is like a Raisin Bran, without all of the sogginess. [/QUOTE] Agreed. And also the raisins aren’t rolled in sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/9 "2007-07-17T21:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=Can Handle the Truth] So people actually eat _Total_? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just cut up some cardboard and have it with milk? [/QUOTE] I take it that [you haven’t been paying attention to the news of late](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3369294). 5600 ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/10 "2007-07-18T00:44:59Z")
[QUOTE=Can Handle the Truth] So people actually eat _Total_? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just cut up some cardboard and have it with milk? [/QUOTE] Hey! It is good for you! The company says so. ( I don’t eat the stuff myself either). As I understand it, the same factory makes both Wheaties and Total. On the Total line, the machines squirt 1/8 oz of vitamins into the box just before it is sealed. That is the difference between Total and Wheaties. That and the price. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/11 "2007-07-18T01:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=rbroome] Hey! It is good for you! The company says so. ( I don’t eat the stuff myself either). As I understand it, the same factory makes both Wheaties and Total. On the Total line, the machines squirt 1/8 oz of vitamins into the box just before it is sealed. That is the difference between Total and Wheaties. That and the price. [/QUOTE] Right into the box, huh? I would have thought they would have separate batches, and mixed it in. But I also seem to remember Oreos having “Oreo” stamped on them, and being told that that production line is similar, Oreos in one bag, generic in the other. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/12 "2007-07-18T01:54:53Z")
Guess we’re now going to have to buy twenty, thirty boxes of Raisin Brand. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/13 "2007-07-18T02:20:16Z")
I’ve been looking around Montreal stores for _Total_ for what feels like a couple of years, without success. I thought it was _already_ off the market. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/14 "2007-07-18T02:42:30Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] Agreed. And also the raisins aren’t rolled in sugar. [/QUOTE] Wait. How is that a good thing? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/15 "2007-07-18T02:57:03Z")
[QUOTE=rbroome] On the Total line, the machines squirt 1/8 oz of vitamins into the box just before it is sealed. [/QUOTE] I’ve never seen Total being made, but in other cereals, when they add vitamins it’s usually just squirted on while the cereal is on a conveyor belt, or it’s squirted into a big drum where the flakes are all rolling around getting dried or whatever. This insures that the individual flakes are evenly coated with vitamins. If you just squirted the vitamins into the top of the box, the cereal near the top would get most of the vitamins and the cereal at the bottom would be vitamin deprived. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/16 "2007-07-18T02:58:41Z")
Switch to Special K. Especially Fruit and Yogurt Clusters. Yummy. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/17 "2007-07-18T15:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] Which I find odd as the last time I tried it, it tasted like chewing a vitamin pill rather than cereal. I guess they’ve managed to mask the flavor of “good for you” since then. [/QUOTE] Mask the taste? Good for you cereals are deliberately unpleasant so people know they’re nutritious and fiber-filled. Research shows the placebo effect works better if the pill is big, black, and foul tasting. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/18 "2007-07-18T15:41:18Z")
Hmmph. I actually don’t think Total tastes too bad. I do sprinke some sugar substitute on it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/19 "2007-07-18T15:41:50Z")
Since we’re in GQ, someone should point out that the correct cereal is Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046/20 "2007-07-19T02:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=engineer\_comp\_geek] I’ve never seen Total being made, but in other cereals, when they add vitamins it’s usually just squirted on while the cereal is on a conveyor belt, or it’s squirted into a big drum where the flakes are all rolling around getting dried or whatever. This insures that the individual flakes are evenly coated with vitamins. If you just squirted the vitamins into the top of the box, the cereal near the top would get most of the vitamins and the cereal at the bottom would be vitamin deprived. [/QUOTE] What makes you think the manufacturer cares about this? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-cereal-going-off-market/412046.md?page=2)