Gluten Free Cereal: Vigilant Eats Organic Superfood Oat Based Cereal

PRODUCT NAME:                    Organic Superfood Oat Based cereal

COMPANY NAME:                    Vigilant Eats

COST:                                      $4.15

SIZE:                                        3 oz

COST PER OZ:                         $1.38                     

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:       YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:        NFC Gluten Guard

ORGANIC:                                YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:        USDA Organic

VEGAN:                                    YES

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:          Unknown

LOCATION OF FACILITY:          Bloomington, IN

SHELF LIFE:                             18 months

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.               

REVIEW:

I came to my Superfood Oat Based Cereal very much in need of something super. I had just finished my third semester of Graduate School and my throat was thick with mucus. I was exhausted, sick, tired, and - lets be honest - lazy. It seemed a perfect moment to try a product that had a primary focus of making life easy for consumers.

Vigilant Eats provided me with a product that was a cup with just-add water instructions. When I first got my container I thought that I was going to be trying a grab-and-go hot oatmeal product. I sleepily put my kettle on the stove to heat some water and upon closer inspection I noticed something I thought a bit strange. I was supposed to fill my to-go cup halfway with *cold* water. “Um, okay. So this is *cold* oatmeal?” I thought. Despite my initial inklings to ignore that particular instruction I turned my kettle off and filled my container up to the line with cold water. Here goes nothing.

Taste: I was initially surprised to find that the taste of this, although not the piping hot oat comfort I expected, was actually not so bad. The texture was a cross between oatmeal and granola, with a smooth creamy backdrop and crunchy little surprises lightly interspersed. (I would later find that these little crunchies were a mix of goji berries and cacao nibs.) I looked into the ingredients more as I chewed and found that in addition to the afore mentioned crunch bites, oats, and oat flour, there was hemp milk powder present in the mixture. Ostensibly, one was supposed to add water and have a product that was suddenly like cold cereal with milk. Although this was not exactly what happened, I still couldn’t complain about the results. The flavor was infused with maple and cinnamon and the cup provided the perfect amount to fill me up.

One caveat about this product is that it was very, very sweet. Although the container bragged about the low-glycemic index of its chosen sweeteners I couldn’t help but notice that there was not one, not two, but three forms off sweetener present (palm nectar, yacon, and maple powder) in addition to the goji berries and cacao nibs. Although I do enjoy a sweet morning treat (I usually add stevia and cinnamon to my own morning brews) it seemed a bit like sugar-y overkill to have so many sweet things added to this tiny cup. I imagine that this company’s aim is to get healthy foods to on-the-go folks who have a more standard American diet then myself and so perhaps all the sweetness makes sense, but for me it was just too much.

There are 300 calories in this cup and a pretty whopping eleven grams of protein. I found this to be appropriate for a morning meal, and it definitely kept me full for a couple of hours. Some mornings I rise at 8AM and don’t have time to eat lunch until 1PM and it is my opinion that the quick cook oats in this product would probably not keep me full for that amount of time. HOWEVER, this was a late wake up Saturday, and I didn’t have a tight schedule to follow, so it was okay to have a breakfast that would really only last me a couple of hours.

Labeling:

Labeling of this product was clear and concise. I deem it to be very sufficient.

Packaging:

Packaging for this product was a cardboard container, which seemed appropriate for keeping the product fresh and having the grab-and-go component. I was surprised that the box and the plastic spoon provided within the box were not recyclable. This company seems to emphasize the holistic nature of their products, and it seems having environmentally sound packaging would fall into this ethos.

Reader’s Reviews:

Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:       3.5

Taste:           3

Value:          3

OVERALL:    3.2

Reviewed  by Lacy D.