Tastes like a plate of mud too (Nestlé Mud and Worms)

Member Name: yummy87

Product:	Nestlé Mud and Worms
Date:	20/08/04 (345 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ummm I don't think there is any

Disadvantages: Weak tasting, artificial

Argggggh it?s the Summer holidays yet again. I don?t know why it is, but at the beginning of every holiday we buy a load of extra bits and pieces for the food cupboard to keep the kids amused during the long Summer break.

Both of my children love their breakfast cereals. Most mornings my eldest son has a bowl absolutely piled high with cereal and his excuse is that he?s growing. Needless to say cereal packets don?t last long in our house and I find that both of my children still living at home have fads with the cereals of the moment.

Although I can?t abide Nestle chocolate I DO like their cereals. I guess I?m a big kid at heart, but chocolate breakfast cereals or anything aimed at kids are normally my favourite, with the exception of Crunchy Nut cornflakes which I?d kill for?????..

To coincide with the release of Shrek 2, Nestle have introduced a new breakfast cereal called Mud and Worms. With a name like that you know it?s going to be aimed primarily at kids and the packaging is very kiddy themed with a close up picture of Shrek on both sides, in fact it?s so close up you can see his stubble and open pores! The box is a shiny silver colour so even without Shrek it?s quite noticeable on the shelves of cereal. I?ve only seen Mud and Worms in one size so far, and that?s a 375g pack which can be purchased from Tesco for the quite expensive price of £1.98. I will state here that I have actually won a packet of Mud and Worms not once but twice, so we had sampled a free box before we shelled out our £1.98 for a box.

Nestle state on the packaging that a 30g serving of Mud and Worms will provide you with 85% of the daily recommended allowance of Vitamins C, B1, B2, B6 and B12, as well as calcium, iron, folic acid and niacin and I?ve shown the panel on this
to my children to reinforce how important it is to have a bowl of cereal each morning, not that they need much persuasion anyway. Both of my children are big eater and will eat at least double the 30g serving for their breakfasts anyway and I do find that a small cereal packet such as this will only give about 5 servings in our house although sometimes we can stretch to six. Calorie wise they?re pretty high and based on a small 30g portion you will be consuming 178 kcal and 3.3g of fat per sitting so imagine doubling that and it?s a pretty scary thought!

Opening up the box the cereal is packaged in the normal waxed bag and when this is opened huge chocolately boulders nestle (no pun intended) together. Ok so I?ve established that the large brown bits are supposed to depict the mud but I can?t see any worms as yet. There is a slight whiff of chocolate from the bag but it?s that powdery stuff and not proper chocolate. I?m now wondering whether Mud and Worms are just Nesquik Cereal repackaged as they do look very similar although the brown pieces are a little bigger than the Nesquik ones. As I shake the box around there are a few light green/beige crescent shaped pieces amongst the brown boulders but it?s not until I pour the cereal into a bowl that I realise there are a few worms, although not half as many as I?d like to have seen in the box..

As I pour the milk over the cereal it doesn?t take long before it turns a yummy brown colour and the muddy lumps float on the top and bob up and down as I swirl the spoon amongst them, The best thing about Mud and Worms is that the cereal doesn?t go sloppy once milk has been poured over it, instead the boulders stay firm and crunchy. As they?re quite large you can?t eat huge spoonfuls at a time, so go easy when you?re piling the spoon up. The taste is a bit of a disappointment though. As I?d alre
ady surmised, the chocolate flavour is pretty nondescript and although it?s obvious the boulders are chocolate flavoured it?s a pretty weak flavouring and tastes very powdery and artificial. The worms are very hard to find and taste of?????nothing actually! You certainly wouldn?t be able to distinguish between the moon shaped worms and the chocolate mud that?s for sure, although I?m sure if Nestle were a bit more generous with their worm portions it might be a bit easier to find out what they actually taste OF! Considering that the boulders are quite artificial in taste, it?s a pleasant surprise to find that the chocolate milk is quite yummy and does actually taste of chocolate rather than some synthetic powdery residue.

So Mud and Worms haven?t passed the Yummy taste test but I can categorically state that both of my children love them and have clamoured for me to buy more when we next go shopping. Of course the cereal will appeal to younger children although I can?t help wondering why Nestle made the boulders so large as they aren?t going to be easy for little mouths.

I think Nestle are on to a bit of a con with these really. They?re either coloured Golden Nuggets or Nesquik cereal with a bit added and really are a bit of a rip off at £1.98 per box when they are pretty tasteless. Although the kids through they were fantastic and chomped their way through a box in a couple of days I certainly don?t give Shrek if I never see them again.

Nestle Cereals
Dept BB092
PO Box 4214
FREEPOST
Dublin 2

Capital letters courtesy of: http://www.chuckleweb.co.uk/fixit.php

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