One of my biggest pet peeves is numbers without units. Kelloggs claims that every box of Raisin Bran contains two scoops of raisins. This is a stupid claim as the scoops could obviously be any size. A quick google search didn’t yield any answers, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I am in between school semesters right now and have a lot of time on my hands. With this surplus of time, I decided to measure the amount of raisins in a box of Raisin Bran. I was originally planning on counting them, but then I decided that was a bad idea.
I checked out the official Kellogg’s website and it didn’t have any info on what size scoops they use.
I separated the flakes from the raisins and found that there was 1 cup of raisins which weighed 150g in the 475g box. Kellogg’s made a good marketing move as “contains two half-cup scoops” doesn’t sound very good. The raisins barely filled the 1 cup measuring cup, and they made a heaping 3/4 cup.
The whole process is documented with pictures below.
[update] I just found somebody else that did the same thing!
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23 Comments on this post
Leave a CommentThat is freakin’ hilarious you took apart the contents of a box of cereal, thats awesome!! lol
Comment left on 5.2.2008 by Sue
This is great!! They must use tablespoon sized scoops!
Comment left on 5.2.2008 by Chelle
My first impression was that the scoops shown on the box look rather big…but the flakes are actually larger that the real flakes, so perhaps the picture is actually accurate. So, not being a raisin bran buyer, I must ask you, were all the raisins at the bottom of the box?
Comment left on 5.2.2008 by Cinzanopaws
hahahaha I can’t believe you seperated them. This is either the mark of true scientist or an extremely patient and bored individual.
Thanks for sharing!
Comment left on 5.2.2008 by fragileheart
Interesting finding, which I had done that before. Welcome to the marketing business!
Comment left on 5.3.2008 by Haney
How long did this process take? It had me laughing – too funny!!
Comment left on 5.3.2008 by Erica
I have always wondered about this. Thank you for giving us the answer!
Comment left on 5.3.2008 by beeker
Dude..thanks for the research..but…you have waaaaayyyy too much time on your hands to be able to do something like this! Frank, informative, and absolutely hilarious!
Comment left on 5.3.2008 by The BoBo
Scientific inquiry – alive and well!
Comment left on 5.4.2008 by Grumpus
I much prefer your account of your experiment!
Comment left on 5.8.2008 by Sarah
I am so glad you did this! I needed to find out how many raisins were in a box because my dog ate a half a box and raisins can be toxic to dogs!
Comment left on 2.12.2009 by Lauren
thanks this totally helped me with my science project
Comment left on 5.6.2009 by kezia’sgroup
u helped n me so very very much thank u.
lol.
Comment left on 5.7.2009 by ashleigh
I have been eating Raisin Bran for about 40 years and I am certain there is higher proportion of raisins now than there was when I was a kid. As a kid I remember there being not enough raisins. Now I think there are too many. It seems like there are about twice as many raisins now.
I am guessing the cost per pound of raisins must now be lower than the cost per pound of flakes.
Too bad you have not conducted this observation annuallly. I would love to know if anyone has any hard data to back up my theory.
Comment left on 1.2.2010 by Old Man
Thanks for providing such information. vnoeihbgt
Comment left on 1.27.2011 by Philip Outcalt
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Comment left on 5.23.2011 by international trades
Thanks, I have been hunting for information about this subject for ages and yours is the best I have located so far.
Comment left on 7.5.2011 by Donita Bo
Your next contribution to the scientific community should be to count how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
I’m eagerly awaiting your results.
- M
Comment left on 7.29.2011 by Merrill
“Thanks, I have been hunting for information about this subject for ages and yours is the best I have located so far.”
Just like the old and famous technoviking who never gave up on his mission.
Comment left on 9.13.2011 by Deborah Bradley
Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you actually took the time to separate the raisins from the bran. I am further amazed at how few raisins were in the box. Less than a cup of raisins would indicate the scoops used were pretty small. This would make a great science fair project for one of my kids…they would love doing this and it certainly would attract attention at the fair. Who doesn’t want to know how many raisins there REALLY are in the box?
Comment left on 9.24.2011 by Millie
Excellent work Adrian… I’ve always thought that an additional study looking at raisin ratios as compared to individual bran flakes would also be a very useful study! Ok… I’m half kidding, but I like what you did, now we know the real truth behind 2 scoops.
Comment left on 9.27.2011 by Gene Talbot
Great! Thanks for proving my point – there are actually too many raisins in Kellogg’s Raisin Bran. Who needs almost a cup of raisins? Actually one raisin per spoonful of flakes is totally sufficient! Sometimes I get a bowl of raisins with a couple flakes! Come on, Kellogg’s. Quit being so cheap! By the way, Adrian, some of the above comments you got were just priceless! LOL! Particularly the one about the Tootsie Pop!
Comment left on 10.5.2011 by Mary H.
I have to say I admire you for taking the time to present a valid argument. It is absurd the way packaging is so misleading. I had never questioned just what size of scoops they were referencing. Stuff like this aggravates me so much. You have inspired me to get organic raisins and throw them on top of some inexpensive bran cereal.
Comment left on 10.14.2011 by Mike