New Product Review:

Vanilla Special K Snack Bites

Reviewed by Mr Breakfast on 1/27/2006

Note: If you've already read the Strawberry Special K Snack Bites review, you may want to skip to the bottom.

I love what Kellogg's is doing with their Special K line. If you know me, you know that I often comment on how a particular cereal functions as a snack. What a healthier nation we would be if we be if we snacked on little baggies of granola instead of ever-enlarging bags of potato and corn chips. And how much more beautiful we would be, if we ate low-fat cereal bars instead of Butterfingers and Twinkies.

Is it possible someone at Kellogg's is listening to a particular husky, bald breakfast expert? It could be. However, I think what's really happening is that the Kellogg's execs are very high on a campaign they have called "The Special K Challenge". Imagine a poor man's South Beach Diet, a convenient plan where a company tells you what to eat and then ropes you in to becoming reliant on their products.

The Special K Challenge touts that you can loose 6 pounds in 2 weeks if you eat Special K cereal for 2 out of 3 meals per day. As long as you eat a proper third meal, with lean protein and vegetables, I think it's a good plan. You're also allowed an occasional snack and that's where the new Special K Snack Bites and Special K Cereal Bars come in.

This is all well and fine. We can all see through the profit-making advantages of hooking customers on a product based diet. And for some people it works... just check their site for testimonials (of course). But it's my sincere hope that Kellogg's can see the bigger picture.

When I check out of my local Ralph's grocery store there's a plethora of candy bars to my right. On the left are bags of Fritos or whatever the featured chip of the checkout isle might be. Sometimes I feel "snacky". That might not be a real word, but it certainly is a real feeling. It's rarer now that I'm older and wiser, but in these times of being snacky, my choices are limited. I know that if there were healthier options vying for my attention, I would probably think twice about that Snickers bar.

Therefore, it's my sincere hope that Kellogg's can look outside the box (clever) - outside of the confines of the Special K challenge - and see that they could make a healthy mark on our national diet, if they could position theses products as checkout isle/counter snacks. Everything is in place. The products are tasty and satisfying. It's just a matter of someone having the guts to take on candy bars and chips.


Dear Kellogg's,

Please take the Mr Breakfast Challenge: position these snacks in places where people are most likely to buy snacks. I give you 9 months... or else I'll bad mouth you on MrBreakfast.com, the worlds #1 breakfast website.

Hopefully yours,
Mr Breakfast


If you know me, you also know that I can rant on endlessly before getting to the meat and bones of product review...

In a nutshell, Vanilla Special K Snack Bites are super great. I found that they satisfied both my sweet-tooth cravings AND my chip cravings. The taste is what you might expect... like a cookie made with vanilla cereal... sweet, but not enough to whack out your tastebuds. Compared to their Strawberry Snack Bites, I preferred this variety, but that was mostly a matter of personal taste. The best surprise was the texture. The individual Snack Bites are a cross between a cereal flake and a chip. In fact, the texture reminded me a little of Frito-Lay's Sun Chips.

I'm giving both varieties of these Snack Chips my highest rating. It's a great idea whose time is now.

Hopefully yours,
Mr Breakfast

$2.50 reflects the price of a box containing six 0.81 ounce snack pouches.

The price we paid: $2.50