Taste Test: Whole Foods 365 Organic Maple & Spice Instant Oatmeal
The maple and spice instant oatmeal produced for Whole Foods' 365 house brand comes as part of a variety pack that also includes apple cinnamon, cinnamon and spice, and oats and flax. We tasted this oatmeal as part of a side by side comparison with its closest counterpart at its largest competitor, Trader Joe's maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal.
We made this oatmeal by following the box's directions and adding ½ cup of boiling water to the dry oatmeal, stirring, and letting it sit for a couple minutes. The result was an oatmeal that was very sweet, as most instant oatmeals are, but we really enjoyed the flavor overall, thanks to the addition of "organic spices" that we wish they went into more detail with, but was heavy on the cinnamon. The other ingredients are only rolled oats, cane juice, maple sugar, salt, and natural flavor, lacking the added vitamins and minerals that go into the one from Trader Joe's.
The texture of the oatmeal, however, was lacking. Whereas the Trader Joe's oatmeal used whole rolled oats, these were steel cut, and the final product was a sticky, gloopy mush without much in the way of texture.
The oatmeal contains 150 calories per packet, as well as 1.5 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbohydrates, and 13 grams of sugar.