Kaboom Cereal: History, Trivia & Nutrition

Snack History Nostalgia Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

The General Mills Company has been a leader in the cereal industry for a reason. They’ve turned out some really incredible cereals over the years and Kaboom is just one of those. This cereal was fun, delicious, and even loaded with vitamins. Does it really get much better than that? 

History

Kaboom was released by General Mills in 1969. Unfortunately, it has since been discontinued but it’s still worth taking a look at. This breakfast cereal was one of the most popular cereals available in the 1970s and 1980s and even debuted on TV shows and commercials in that timeframe because of its popularity. Everyone loved Kaboom. 

Kaboom cereal uses a citrus theme when it comes to flavors. The little cereal bits had oats that looked like a smiling clown and then added to the fun with a variety of marshmallows that were inspired by circus animals. The marshmallows included stars, bears, lions, and elephants in a variety of flavors. 

One of the most unique things about Kaboom cereal was that it was said to have 100% of the minimum requirements for vitamins and iron. They had this statement stamped on the box and you only had to enjoy 1 ounce of cereal to reap those benefits. At the same time, this was still a sugar cereal so the good news is that they found a way to balance the sugar and the nutrition. 

Kaboom cereal debuted on TV quite a few times during its history before it was discontinued. Probably one of the first times it found its way to the spotlight was during its own Kaboom commercial. The commercial came out in 1969 and was a 30-second rendition advertisement of the cereal. 

In the commercial, the clown talked about vitamins and nutrition and even makes the statement that “even the candy stars are vitamin charged”. You can find old copies of this commercial on YouTube. It’s a fun little cartoon commercial with an energetic circus clown that kids loved. 

In 1985, author Don DeLillo mentions Kaboom in his novel White Noise. He also mentions Waffelos in the same scene. These are mentioned in the very first chapter as he describes items being packed into a station wagon that is pulling into campus to move in. 

In 2003, Kaboom is found in the movie Kill Bill: Volume 1. One of the characters, Vernita Green, pulls a gun out of a Kaboom cereal box during a mission. That surely puts a whole new meaning to the word Kaboom, doesn’t it? 

If you ever enjoyed the cartoon show called Futurama, this is another place you might spot a box of Kaboom cereal. One of the characters forgets something he needed to know and then makes the statement “I guess the memory is gone forever, just like Kaboom cereal”. This episode happened in 2013, about 3 years after the cereal was discontinued by General Mills. 

In one of the less desirable uses of the cereal, a music video by Butthole Surfers uses Kaboom cereal to take a creepy spin on the clowns. The man in the music video sits down to eat his cereal and the clowns laugh and the man goes crazy and runs away. 

Of course, we can’t forget Mr. Rogers walking through the cereal aisle and clearly walking right by Kaboom during one of his episodes from 1984. In the same commercial, you see a number of other vintage cereals as well. 

Mary Tyler Moore displayed Kaboom cereal in an episode that was titled Just Friends. This episode originally aired in November of 1973. The anchorman, Ted Baxter makes a statement that his favorite cereals are Kaboom and Cocoa Puffs. 

Finally, the last appearance that we are aware of is an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 known as The Indestructible Man. In this episode, a character reads cereal novels while simultaneously eating bowls of cereal. 

This particular episode really talks about children enjoying reading their cereal boxes. He uses several different kinds of cereal but one of them is reading a rendition of American Psycho from the back of Kaboom cereal box. 

As you can see, Kaboom was a popular choice through the years and while you can’t find it on shelves anymore, it certainly left its mark. 

When Was Kaboom Cereal Invented? 

Kaboom was officially released to the cereal industry in 1969. It was introduced as hosting the daily required allotment of vitamins and iron in a single serving of about 1 ounce. From the colorful oat pieces to the fun marshmallows, this 60s candy was delightful. 

It was made with a citrus flavor and the circus clown paired with his animal and star marshmallows made the cereal a lot of fun. The oat pieces weren’t just plain like Lucky Charms either. Instead, they were colorful and flavored based on citrus fruits. 

The flavors are delightful but the establishment of the cereal is a lot of fun as well. While Kaboom cereal was released in 1969, it was done so by General Mills Company so we don’t really have any special stories of who invented it or how they came up with the brilliant idea. 

Who Owns Kaboom Cereal? 

The General Mills Company is the company that released Kaboom and they maintained ownership for the full 41 years that the cereal was available on the market. Unfortunately, they discontinued the cereal in 2010 so it is no longer available. 

However, if you compare the popularity of Kaboom to other cereals on the market, we think you will be hard-pressed to find something comparable or something that debuted on various TV shows and videos as much as what we see of this particular cereal. 

Really, it’s a pretty cool stance when you consider it. Now, we often see cereal boxes, drinks, and more covered up so you can’t see the branding but Kaboom was either shown or referenced a handful of times and many of those continue to stand out. 

How Did Kaboom Get its Name? 

We’re not really sure why they chose to name Kaboom as they did. What we do know is that Kaboom is packed with vitamins and iron and was said to contain the full daily requirements for those on its early boxes. 

This cereal was made with toasted corn as well as marshmallow shapes and they had a citrus flavor. That paired with the circus theme made Kaboom a great choice but we have no history of the naming convention for this cereal. Perhaps it was named after the circus cannon. 

Are There Other Flavors of Kaboom?

Kaboom never had many variations. It was made with citrus flavors in the marshmallows and even the clown face oat pieces but there were never any alterations or specialty offerings when it came to the flavor. 

Of course, it never really needed to change the flavors from the original creation. 

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Ingredients

Here are the Ingredients for Kaboom Cereal.

• Whole Grain Corn
• Corn Meal
• Marshmallow Bits (Sugar, Dextrose, Modified Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Gelatin, Artificial Flavor, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blues 1 & 2)
• Sugar
• Corn Bran
• Modified Corn Starch
• Rice Bran and/or Canola Oil
• Salt
• Corn Syrup
• Trisodium Phosphate
• Red 40
• Yellow 6
• Blue 1 and Other Color Added
• Natural and Artificial Flavor
• Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols) and BHT Added to Preserve Freshness
• Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate
• Iron and Zinc (Mineral Nutrients)
• Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate)
• A B Vitamin (Niacinamide)
• Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride)
• Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
• Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate)
• Vitamin A (Palmitate)
• A B Vitamin (Folic Acid)
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D3

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 Plate (110 g)	% Daily Value *
Amount per Serving
Sugar	6g	12%
Magnesium	8mg	2%
Protein	1g	2%
Vitamin B12	1500µg	25%
Calories Cholesterol 0 % 0 mg	110kcal	5%
Trans Fat	0g	0%
Potassium	55mg	2%
Folic Acid	200µg	50%
Thiamin	0.38mg	25%
Vitamin A	10%	500IU
Zinc	3.75mg	25%
Iron	8.10mg	45%
Niacin	5mg	25%
Sodium	210mg	9%
Calcium	100mg	10%
Vitamin B6	500µg	25%
Vitamin D	40IU	10%
Phosphorus	40mg	4%
Fat Calories	10kcal	0%
Carbohydrate	27g	9%
Total Fat	1.50g	2%
Riboflavin	0.43mg	25%
Saturated Fat	0g	0%
Fiber	4g	15%
Vitamin C	6mg	10%

Where to Buy?

Kaboom was discontinued in 2010 and therefore can no longer be purchased. You can find old listings on places like Amazon and even some overviews on other sites that perhaps carried the cereal at one time but you will no longer find it for purchase. 

We think we speak for the rest of the world when we say this is one cereal that will probably always be missed in the industry. Who knows, maybe it will make a surprise comeback someday!  

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