Breakfast cereal in some markets, and steady and continued growth throughout its history. The number of different types of breakfast cereals in the U.S. has grown from 160 (1970) to 340 (1998) to 4,945 (2012). In this highly competitive market, breakfast cereal companies have developed cereals in an ever-increasing number of flavors. Although many plain wheat and oat based cereals exist, other flavors are sweet. Some of the most popular brands include freeze-dried fruit and others are flavored like dessert or candy. Cereal, oatmeal and porridge quickly became an important breakfast component in North America. Barley was a common grain used, though
Life (cereal) Original Life has been reformulated several times since its introduction, sometimes unsuccessfully. Most recently, in 1997, Quaker introduced a "New and Improved" version; consumer response was unfavorable and Quaker quickly reverted to the original formula. In 2010, Life was featured on the "Eat This, Not That" website. It was categorized as a healthy cereal but was criticized for its content of the yellow food dye "Yellow 5", or tartrazine. The original cereal also contains disodium phosphate, the preservative BHT, yellow 6, and pyridoxine hydrochloride. Life (cereal) Life, stylized as life®, is a breakfast cereal formerly made solely of whole grain