Honey Smacks vs Golden Crisp: Which Cereal is Best?

There are minimal if any visible differences between Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp. Both are sweetened breakfast cereals made with whole grain wheat. Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp cereals have been in grocery stores for decades and over the years there has been very few changes to the products.

For the most part, these cereals are quite similar with only a few distinct differences.

While taste may be the ultimate deciding factor for which cereal you deem best, it’s good to know what’s in the food you eat.

This is your best reference guide to quickly and easily compare Honey Smacks vs. Golden Crisp cereals. Learn more about the nutritional value, calories, and ingredients in these competing cereals.

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Honey Smacks vs. Golden Crisp

Food Companies: Kellanova and Post Consumer Brands

Quick Overview of Kellanova

Kellanova is a food company that specializes in the production of cereals, noodles and frozen foods. The company was created following Kellogg’s decision in 2023 to spin off the North American cereal business.

Kellanova maintains a broad portfolio of leading consumer food brands, including Eggo, Pringles, Cheez-It, and Froot Loops, among others.

Quick Overview of Post Consumer Brands

Post Consumer Brands® is a manufacturer of cereals, snacks, and pet food products. Founded in 1895 in the U.S. state of Michigan, Post produces over one billion pounds of breakfast cereal annually.

Its portfolio of cereals includes more than a dozen well-known brands and flavor varieties, including Honey Bunches of Oats, Grape-Nuts, OREO O’s, and PEBBLES, among many others.

Nutritional Comparison

Always check the serving size when you’re comparing the nutritional values of packaged foods. Use data that is based on the same serving size in a measurable quantity such as one cup, tablespoon, gram, or liter (for example).

One measured serving size of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp is based on one cup. However, the net weight of a single cup is slightly different:

One cup of Honey Smacks has a net weight of 36 grams.
One cup of Golden Crisp cereal has a net weight of 38 grams.

Data table with nutritional value of Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp cereals. — Nutritional information comparison of Honey Smacks vs Golden Crisp

Calories

Total calories per serving differs. One serving of Golden Crisp cereal has 150 calories. By comparison, one serving of Honey Smacks has 130 total calories.

That said, remember that the measured serving size is different. So, in order to compare apples to apples, let’s convert the unit of measure to calories per gram.

Honey Smacks vs. Golden Crisp: Calorie Comparison

	HONEY SMACKS	GOLDEN CRISP
Total Calories per Serving	130	150
Grams per Serving	36	38
Calories per Gram	3.6	3.9

As you can see from the table above, the total calories in Golden Crisp is about 8.5% higher than Honey Smacks cereal.

At first glance it seems the difference is 13% (150 calories vs 130 calories). But, that’s not a fair comparison because of the difference in serving sizes (38g vs 36g).

Compare calories at the unit level (grams) and the difference shrinks.

Golden Crisp cereal delivers 3.9 calories per gram.
Honey Smacks cereal delivers 3.6 calories per gram.

Our analysis of total calories is based on the cereal alone, before adding milk.

Calories per Nutrient

Both cereals have the same amount of total dietary fats and protein per serving.

The only difference in the amount of macronutrients (i.e., fats, carbs, and proteins) is Golden Crisp contains 34 grams of carbs compared to 32 grams of carbs in Honey Smacks.

Total carbs include added sugars and Golden Crisp contains more added sugars (21g) per serving than Honey Smacks (18g).

Here is a table listing the nutritional information for Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp.

PEBBLES Cereal Nutrition Facts

	HONEY SMACKS	GOLDEN CRISP
Serving Size	36g	38g
Calories	130	150
Calories per Gram	3.6	3.9
Total Fat	0.5g	0.5g
– – Saturated Fat	0g	0g
– – Trans Fat	0g	0g
Cholesterol	0mg	0mg
Sodium	45mg	85mg
Total Carbohydrate	32g	34g
– – Dietary Fiber	2g	0g
– – Total Sugars	18g	21g
– – – – Added Sugars	18g	21g
Protein	2g	2g

Nutrition facts are based on cereal only, before adding milk. For informational purposes only.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Golden Crisp has a higher sugar content with 21 grams of sugar per serving.

Compare nutrition facts in Frosted Mini Wheats

Food producers may change their recipes and product formulations without notice. Although we update our guides regularly, we recommend checking the nutrition facts and ingredient line information on the packaging for the most accurate information about a specific product.

Ingredients

Golden Crisp and Honey Smacks are made with fewer than a dozen ingredients.

There is no doubt that these are sugary cereals. Consumer reviews are often focused on how much sugar is in each serving.

Each sweetened puffed wheat cereal is made with sugar, corn syrup, and honey, three ingredients that are considered added sugars.

Nutritional Note: The American Heart Association recommends limiting calories from added sugars to no more than 6% of total calories.

Food Coloring

Golden Crisp cereal contains a coloring agent. Cocoa Pebbles is made with caramel color, a water-soluble dark-brown material used in foods.

Caramel color is derived by cooking sugars with one or more food-grade acids, alkalis, or salts. The generic term “caramel color” is used without insight into the formulation.

Many other commercially processed foods and beverages, including Original Coke, Chick-fil-A milkshakes, and Dunkin’ Donuts Maple Frosted donut, are made with caramel color.

Here is the complete list of ingredients in Honey Smacks and Golden Crisp cereals.

List of Ingredients

	HONEY SMACKS	GOLDEN CRISP
Wheat	Yes	Yes
Sugar	Yes	Yes
Corn Syrup	—	Yes
Glucose Syrup	Yes	—
Salt	Yes	Yes
Honey	Yes	Yes
Palm Oil	Yes
Fruit Juice (for color)	Yes
Canola Lecithin	Yes
Caramel Color	—	Yes
Mixed Tocopherols (for freshness)	Yes
Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1)		Yes
Calcium Pantothenate (B-vitamin)		Yes
Folic Acid		Yes

Ingredients may not be listed in order of dominance by weight.

Check ingredients in Fruit Loops Cereal

Data table with summary nutrition facts for six types of Post Pebbles cereals. — Post Consumer Brands PEBBLES cereals

FAQs

Golden Crisp is a packaged cereal manufactured by Post Consumer Brands.

Honey Smacks is manufactured by Kellanova, an independent global company that was spun out of Kellogg’s in 2023.

Added Sugars used during the production of commercially processed foods may include fructose, maple syrup, cane juice, corn syrup, dextrose, and other sweeteners such as table sugar. By comparison, natural sugars are found organically in foods such as milk, vegetables, and fruit.

Nutrition Facts Labels report Total Sugars, which includes sugars found naturally in foods as well as added sugars.

Nutrition facts, prices, and ingredients are based on available information as of the date of publication. Restaurants and food manufacturers may change their recipes without notice. Check directly with the food provider for the most up-to-date information. NutritionandIngredients.com does not provide health or wellness advice or dietary recommendations. All reports and reviews published on this site are for informational purposes only. Unless otherwise stated, %DV is based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Always consult your physician for any healthcare or dietary advice.