Icee Cereal

Ice drinks and cereal products were a staple of daily life for many 80s and 90s kids. More recently, Icee dispensers are less common at fast food outlets or mall locations, and there are many young people who might never have had the chance to enjoy this cold, refreshing drink. The mall was the primary place where many young people first experience Icees, but with malls becoming less and less popular, it is harder and harder to track down an Icee.

If you have missed out on trying the drink, Kellogg’s has created a very unique Icee cereal product that promises to offer you the trademark flavors of Icee drinks. This cereal is also supposed to include the cooling sensation of an ice-cold, slush-style drink in every bite.

History

Kellogg’s created Icee Cereal as a summertime promotional product. Since Icee drinks have always been associated with being very cold and refreshing, it makes sense that Kellogg’s viewed this pairing as the ideal summer cereal product. Kellogg’s has a long history of creating unique cereals, although many of their sweet cereals haven’t stood up to the test of time. With the exception of products like Frosted Mini Wheats, Honey Smacks, and Frosted Flakes, many of the sweet cereals that Kellogg’s has created have had a short lifespan on grocery store shelves.

Many people immediately fell in love with Icee Cereal and are now very frustrated that they cannot find it anywhere. Kellogg’s doesn’t indicate where you can find the product these days. It is likely that this unique cereal will be seasonal at best. For those who fell in love immediately, this will no doubt be a big disappointment.

The goal of this cereal was to create cereal pieces that cooled in your mouth as you ate them. The cereal was intended to also flavor your milk like an Icee. For everyone who absolutely loved Icees, this was an intriguing concept indeed. The flood of various taste tests all over TikTok makes it clear just how taken the influencer community was with the idea.

The Icee was invented in 1958, which is a fact that surprises many people. You can still get this delightful, classically refreshing drink at 7-11 stores in many flavors. Mall kiosks and fast food suppliers used to help make this drink available to those who were fans.

Kellogg’s has been making cereal since the late 1800s. There are many, many products that are sold under the Kellogg’s umbrella, and many of them are cereal products. The company is more closely associated with traditional, healthy cereal choices like Corn Flakes, but there are sweet cereals in their product catalog as well. Kellogg’s has the influence and money to be able to create unique products like this one, which is really fun for consumers.

Kellogg’s takes pride in creating products that speak to all kinds of different consumers. They make it clear on their website that they love to make products for kids, adults, and those with specific dietary needs. Certainly, their wide array of products does seem designed to meet this standard. 

Icee Cereal states that the cereal pieces are intended to be flavored like cherry and blue raspberry. These classic Icee flavors remain some of the most popular options even today when there are many other kinds of Icees to fall in love with. The cereal boxes feature the familiar polar bear mascot with his red sweatshirt and sunglasses. The boxes leave no doubt that you are intended to experience Icee goodness in each bite. 

The Icee Cereal product is a lot like Wendy’s Frosty Cereal, which became the source of viral interest as well. This cereal was released in 2021 and then went off the market not long afterward. The concept of a cereal that was like a cold slushie treat seemed very farfetched when it was first suggested, but it seemed less unlikely due to the success of Wendy’s product.

However, many people felt that the “cold” nature of Icee Cereal wasn’t realistic. After all, the cereal is not cold, nor is it made with ice. This means that the cooling sensation that is supposed to mimic an Icee is just due to something in the ingredient that makes your mouth feel a little numb. This was a bit unpleasant for some people who didn’t actually enjoy eating the cereal.

Kellogg’s claims that, “an innovative ingredient” cools your mouth as you eat. There has been a lot of speculation about what ingredient causes the “cold” aspect of the eating experience. The ingredient list doesn’t list any of the usual ingredients that would lead to a cooling feeling in your mouth.

Menthol is likely the chemical that is causing this “cold” sensation when you eat this cereal. Menthol can be very overwhelming to some people’s tastebuds, which is probably why some people haven’t enjoyed this cereal product. For those who like fruity cereals, the menthol-induced sense of cold might not be a sufficient reason not to love eating this product.

Kellogg’s hasn’t said much about their plans for this product. It might end up being seasonal, or it might just fade away into everyone’s memories. Licensing and production limitations, as well as the overall popularity of unique cereals, often have a lot to do with decisions about their fate behind the scenes. Consumers tend to forget that their love of a cereal doesn’t always ensure its success long-term. 

There are many products that have been brought back from the dead due to the petitions and pleas of the consumers who loved them. In the case of cereal products, there is no set precedent for this kind of successful return from the ashes. Those who are committed to this product might need to start petitioning for its return right away. Striking while the iron is hot is more likely to be effective than letting things rest in a case like this.

There are online marketplaces like eBay where Icee cereal might turn up over the next couple of years. However, aging cereal is rarely very enjoyable to eat, and consumers wanting to try out this unique product should be wary of the possible condition of any box of cereal that they purchase in this way. For now, there is hope that the cereal will return since Kellogg’s is still displaying lots of information about it on their website.

What Does Icee Cereal Taste Like?

Many people state that Icee cereal tastes just like any other fruity cereal. The big difference between the standard fruit cereal and this one is that regular cereals don’t cause your mouth to feel cold. Those who loved the idea of a “cold” cereal are probably less sensitive to the menthol which causes this sensation. For some people, menthol can actually lead to them being unable to taste much of anything at all.

Many people likened the menthol part of the taste experience to chewing minty gum and then trying to enjoy the taste of anything else. The same people likely also struggle with the taste of toothpaste, overwhelming anything else that they eat for some time after they brush their teeth.

For those who are not so sensitive to menthol, the cooling sensation seems to be short-lived, and the fruity nature of the cereal rises to the top. The Icee cereal pieces are large enough to retain their crunchiness and texture, which is something that many people like about Icee Cereal. No one seems to feel that Icee Cereal is too sweet, either, which is often the problem with novelty cereals.

Some people did complain about how fake the cherry taste was in each box. Many people reported that the blue raspberry pieces didn’t carry much flavor compared to the cherry. While no one stated that the cherry flavoring reminded them of medicine, there were some complaints that the cherry flavor was still very strong. However, for those who love Icees, the strong cherry flavor was probably exactly what they had expected.

Thankfully, Icee Cereal also seems to have avoided the “medicine” taste that other unique cereals sometimes seem to have. For people who love really unique and slightly strange cereals, the fact that this cereal tastes pretty good while still being unique makes its lack of availability a big disappointment. So many oddball cereals are not actually all that fun to eat, so when a cereal that is intended to be unique and strange is also yummy, people want it to stick around for the long haul.

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Ingredients:

• Corn flour blend (Whole grain yellow corn flour, degerminated yellow corn flour)
• Sugar
• Wheat flour
• Whole grain oat flour
• Oat fiber
• Contains 2% or less of soluble corn fiber, salt, calcium carbonate, red 40, natural and artificial flavor, blue 1, yellow 6, BHT for freshness
• Vitamins and Minerals: Iron, niacinamide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), folic acid, vitamin D3, vitamin B12

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1.3 cup (38g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories	130
Calories from Fat	9
Total Fat	1g	2%
Saturated Fat	0g	0%
Trans Fat	0g
Polyunsaturated Fat	0g
Monounsaturated Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	190mg	8%
Potassium	50mg	1%
Total Carbohydrates grams	33g	11%
Dietary Fiber	4g	16%
Sugars	14g
Protein	2g

• * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Pictures

Ads:

A taste test for Icee cereal:

An Icee ad:

An Australian Icee ad: