Milk

Almost all boxes of Frosted Flakes show a bowl of golden, crispy, sugary Frosted Flakes, inviting you to taste the wholesome goodness of what is basically corn and sugar. I suspect that the picture serves an educational purpose in a lot of cases. I mean, you're a first time buyer of Frosted Flakes in some far-flung country and you open the box. Then what? Do you fry them? Microwave them? Toast em on bread? Pour boiling water on them? What?

There may have been problems like this because several boxes show milk actually being poured into the bowl. Countries in my collection which do this include Japan, Saudi Arabia, Holland, Italy, Brazil, Poland, and Greece. Without such guidance one can imagine the befuddlement of the poor Japanese or Dutch attempting to interpret such a visceral manifestation of today's fast food throw away culture. Strangely enough, the German's have added pouring milk to their box cover. Perhaps there were complaints that the cereal did not taste good when mixed with sauerkraut.

Strawberries

Some countries obviously feel it is necessary to spice up the bowl (as if that sugary goodness isn't enough!). They do this by adding strawberries to the mix. So far, I have seen this in USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Costa Rica. So this appears to be a North American/New World affliction. It is understandable given the health craze in English North America (which has undoubtedly spilled over to Central and South America due to proximity and the sharing of manufacturing plants). Certainly, the Europeans aren't as obsessed with health as we are. I've heard that the Bulgarian box has a lit cigarette on the side of the bowl. Here, on the other hand, recent US boxes are proclaiming that FF are FAT FREE. This is a bit of a cheat, since milk contains fat. Why do I nit pick here? Because the vitamin content quoted on the box includes the contribution from the milk -- some consistency please! (What's that about consistency and hobgoblins? Bah.)

Anyway, back to strawberries. I say that they detract from the wonderful, sugary, simplicity of the flakes and should be removed! Purists of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your fruit!

Sugar

In the old days, it was called Sugar Frosted Flakes of Corn. Nowadays, people blame sugar for everything from hyperactivity to tooth decay to a distressing lack of morals in Congress (think about it people: sugar is just a carbohydrate, like potatoes). So no more sugar on the boxes. But does everyone feel this way? No! Many countries take pride in the high sugar content of FF and display it prominantly on the box cover. For your convenience I have listed several below.

If anyone can read Japanese or Korean drop me a line and let me know if they mention the S-word on the cover.

Bananas

Boy was I surprised to find this! I guess I don't know all things Tony.