Cereal: multigrain vs reduced sugar USDA FDC 2708465 vs 2708487
Per 100 g, multigrain reports 14.6 g dietary fiber, while reduced sugar reports 6.4 g dietary fiber.
The comparison uses two cited USDA records. Their complete source names, household portions, nutrient values, and FoodData Central links remain visible below.
Highlighted difference
Protein at the same 100-gram weight
Bar length shows the two cited values on one shared denominator. It does not rank either food or establish why they differ.
- Cereal, multigrain 11.6 g
11.6 g - Cereal, reduced sugar 8.4 g
8.4 g
Shared basis: 100 g · g
Equal-weight evidence
Nutrition per 100 grams
Both columns use the same mass, which compares nutrient concentration without allowing the two representative source amounts to change the denominator. “A +” or “B +” reports the arithmetic difference between the cited values; it is not a quality score.
On smaller screens, focus a comparison table and scroll horizontally to read every column.
| Nutrient | A · Cereal, multigrain | B · Cereal, reduced sugar | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 373 kcal | 376 kcal | B +3 kcal |
| ProteinMaterial difference | 11.6 g | 8.4 g | A +3.2 g |
| Total fat | 3.6 g | 3.7 g | B +0.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 74 g | 76.9 g | B +2.9 g |
| Dietary fiberMaterial difference | 14.6 g | 6.4 g | A +8.2 g |
| Total sugars | 20.1 g | 19.8 g | A +0.3 g |
| SodiumMaterial difference | 233 mg | 509 mg | B +276 mg |
| Saturated fat | 0.5 g | 0.5 g | No difference at displayed precision |
| Potassium | 158 mg | 171 mg | B +13 mg |
| Calcium | 28 mg | 182 mg | B +154 mg |
| Iron | 11 mg | 10.8 mg | A +0.2 mg |
Values come from the two cited USDA FoodData Central Survey Foods records. Feast does not average records, impute missing values, or infer a nutrient from the food name.
Read the table by question
The material primary-nutrient differences run in both directions: A is higher on 2, while B is higher on 1.
These answers describe concentration per 100 grams. “More” and “less” identify the arithmetic direction only; they do not decide which record is a better match or which food is better for a person.
Which reports fewer calories?
Record A
Record A reports 373 kcal, compared with 376 kcal in the other record—a difference of 3 kcal.
Which reports more protein?
Record A
Record A reports 11.6 g, compared with 8.4 g in the other record—a difference of 3.2 g.
Which reports more fiber?
Record A
Record A reports 14.6 g, compared with 6.4 g in the other record—a difference of 8.2 g.
Which reports less sodium?
Record A
Record A reports 233 mg, compared with 509 mg in the other record—a difference of 276 mg.
What differs in the source descriptions
The exact names carry information the numbers cannot.
USDA assigns both records to “Ready-to-eat cereal, lower sugar (=<21.2g/100g),” but the topic label is broad. Record A is “Cereal, multigrain.” Record B is “Cereal, reduced sugar.” Feast paired them because their contrast-neutral food identities are an exact match, not merely because they share a generic category.
The controlled name parser found 1 interpretable distinction. These labels organize wording already present in the names; they do not establish that a distinction caused a nutrient difference.
| Description dimension | Record A | Record B |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar wording | No matching controlled term in the source name | reduced-sugar wording |
Even a clean name contrast can carry hidden companions. A fried record may also include coating; a restaurant record can use a different recipe; a reduced-sodium description can differ in more than salt; and a source amount can reflect a different reporting convention. That is why this page reports the complete pair rather than treating one word as an intervention.
Portion context
A representative source amount is not a shared “serving.”
Record A uses USDA reference amount at 50 g. Record B uses USDA reference amount at 35 g. Those labels and gram weights come from their respective records. They are useful for scaling the chosen profile, but they are not recommendations and need not describe equal amounts.
The two representative amounts differ by 15 g (30% of the larger amount). This is why the main table holds mass at 100 g. After selecting the closer description, use its household measure or a gram estimate for the amount actually eaten.
A cup, piece, slice, sandwich, fillet, or fluid ounce can have different gram weights across records. A matching label is not enough: check the listed grams. If accuracy matters more than convenience, weighing the food or using a current package label can be more specific than a generic survey-food measure.
Record A measures
- 1 cup50 g
- 1 prepackaged single serving30 g
- USDA reference amount50 g
Record B measures
- 1 cup35 g
- 1 prepackaged single serving30 g
- USDA reference amount35 g
One shared household label
1 cup: 50 g in A vs 35 g in B
The household label matches, but the source gram weights differ. These values scale each record by its own listed grams; they are practical portion context, not an equal-mass comparison.
| Nutrient | A · 50 g | B · 35 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 187 kcal | 132 kcal |
| Protein | 5.8 g | 2.9 g |
| Dietary fiber | 7.3 g | 2.2 g |
| Sodium | 117 mg | 178 mg |
USDA source formulation evidence
The listed inputs provide another way to audit the match.
FNDDS includes input-food rows behind each standardized survey-food record. Record A’s leading listed inputs include Flour, wheat, all-purpose, unenriched, unbleached, Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry, Sugars, granulated, Cornmeal, degermed, unenriched, yellow. Record B’s include Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry, Cornmeal, degermed, unenriched, yellow, Flour, wheat, all-purpose, unenriched, unbleached, Sugars, granulated. Ingredient-code overlap is 57%, and normalized listed-input-weight variation is 19%.
Record A · 10 coded inputs
Cereal, multigrain
- Flour, wheat, all-purpose, unenriched, unbleachedIngredient code 20481 · open source index29.5% of listed input weight
- Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dryIngredient code 8120 · open source index24.6% of listed input weight
- Sugars, granulatedIngredient code 19335 · open source index19.7% of listed input weight
- Cornmeal, degermed, unenriched, yellowIngredient code 20422 · open source index9.8% of listed input weight
- Flour, rice, white, unenrichedIngredient code 20061 · open source index9.8% of listed input weight
- Soy protein isolateIngredient code 16122 · open source index3.9% of listed input weight
- Fiber, total dietary, as ingredientIngredient code 999291 · open source index1.1% of listed input weight
- Oil, canolaIngredient code 4582 · open source index1% of listed input weight
Record B · 12 coded inputs
Cereal, reduced sugar
- Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dryIngredient code 8120 · open source index26.1% of listed input weight
- Cornmeal, degermed, unenriched, yellowIngredient code 20422 · open source index26.1% of listed input weight
- Flour, wheat, all-purpose, unenriched, unbleachedIngredient code 20481 · open source index26.1% of listed input weight
- Sugars, granulatedIngredient code 19335 · open source index19.1% of listed input weight
- Salt, tableIngredient code 2047 · open source index1.3% of listed input weight
- Oil, canolaIngredient code 4582 · open source index1% of listed input weight
- Fiber, total dietary, as ingredientIngredient code 999291 · open source index0.2% of listed input weight
- Vitamin D as ingredientIngredient code 999328 · open source index0.1% of listed input weight
8 shared coded inputs
The largest shared entries include Flour, wheat, all-purpose, unenriched, unbleached, Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry, Cornmeal, degermed, unenriched, yellow, Sugars, granulated, Salt, table. Shared codes can still carry different listed weights.
2 A-only and 4 B-only coded inputs
A-only entries include Flour, rice, white, unenriched, Soy protein isolate. B-only entries include Vitamin D as ingredient, Calcium as ingredient, Vitamin B composite in cereals, Folic acid as ingredient.
Important: repeated rows carrying the same ingredient code are combined before the shares and overlap are calculated. These weights belong to USDA’s source formulation: they are not a reconstructed plate, final cooked yield, visitor serving, ingredient declaration, or estimate of what is visible in a photo. USDA’s FNDDS documentation explains that these calculation recipes can represent multiple variants, may include retention or moisture adjustments, and are not product-label ingredient lists.
Choosing the closer record
Match context first; scale second.
- 01
Read both names literally
Compare cooking method, coating, edible skin or peel, sauce, additions, venue, source form, and food subtype. For this pair, the full A and B descriptions above are the evidence—not shortened search labels.
- 02
Use listed inputs as a check
If the name still leaves ambiguity, compare the leading and unique source inputs. They can reveal that two near names refer to meaningfully different standardized formulations, but they do not reconstruct your dish.
- 03
Choose an amount for that record
After choosing A or B, use its own named measure and gram weight. Do not transfer a cup, slice, or “typical amount” from the other record as if the measures were interchangeable.
- 04
Account for missing details
Brand, current restaurant recipe, cooking oil, drained weight, toppings, substitutions, and unfinished portions may not be captured. A label or weighed recipe can supersede a generic reference when it better matches the actual food.
Limits and responsible interpretation
This is a comparison of records, not a causal study.
The two records come from 2021–2023 FoodData Central Survey Foods data. The nutrient table faithfully compares their published values on the same weight basis. It does not measure two plates prepared at the same time, isolate one ingredient, or estimate the uncertainty around either value.
For this pair, the source names differ across 1 documented description dimension, while the listed formulations show 57% ingredient-code overlap and 19% normalized listed-weight variation. Moisture, ingredient proportions, preparation, and record construction can therefore move together. The page can describe the combined record difference; it cannot isolate the effect of one word.
A higher or lower number is not an overall verdict. Protein, fiber, sodium, energy, fat, micronutrients, preferences, allergies, budget, portion, and an individual’s goals answer different questions. Feast therefore reports directions and magnitudes without applying a universal “healthier” label.
This page is educational and does not diagnose a condition, prescribe a target, or replace advice from a qualified professional. For an allergy, medically directed diet, or strict ingredient limit, use verified ingredient information and guidance appropriate to that situation.
How this page qualified
A page is published only when the pair clears materiality and diversity gates.
Both records must occupy the same USDA survey-food topic and share a close food identity after a controlled vocabulary separates preparation, edible-part, source, claim, crust, and sauce wording. Exact contrast-neutral identities receive priority. Close ingredient or form substitutions can qualify when name overlap remains high and the numerical evidence is material.
For primary nutrients, Feast requires both an absolute and relative difference: at least 20 kcal and 12% for energy; 2 g and 18% for protein or fat; 5 g and 15% for carbohydrate; 1 g and 20% for fiber; 4 g and 20% for sugars; or 100 mg and 20% for sodium. A focused one-nutrient pair also needs a material representative-amount or formulation distinction. Rounding-only pairs are not published.
Unordered FDC IDs define a canonical pair, so reversing A and B cannot create another page. Each source record can appear twice at most, each USDA topic contributes no more than 40 pages, and closely repeated identity families are capped. Those rules produced a selective comparison library rather than every mathematical combination in the corpus.
Read the complete nutrition-page methodology for import, nutrient mapping, portion scaling, Daily Value, and uncertainty rules.
Decision support from the exact records on this page
Turn source data into a better next decision
These conclusions and reading paths are computed from 2 exact records behind Cereal, multigrain versus Cereal, reduced sugar. Links are chosen by record identity, controlled contrast, formulation input, nutrient spread, or serving context—not by loose keyword similarity.
Equal-weight result
Cereal, multigrain is higher in protein per 100 g
Cereal, multigrain reports 11.6 g versus 8.4 g for Cereal, reduced sugar: a 3.2 g difference when both are normalized to 100 g.
Inspect the underlying evidenceThe denominator changes the answer
Cereal, reduced sugar is denser; Cereal, multigrain is higher in its source amount
Cereal, reduced sugar reports 376 kcal per 100 g and 132 kcal in USDA source amount (35 g). Cereal, multigrain reports a lower 373 kcal per 100 g but a higher 187 kcal in USDA source amount (50 g).
Record identity is part of the estimate
Distinguish “Cereal, multigrain” from “Cereal, reduced sugar”
These are separate USDA records with separate formulations or survey descriptions. Match preparation, additions, and the named household amount before borrowing either record’s nutrients.
Inspect the underlying evidenceContextual knowledge graph
Follow the relationship that matches your question
For Cereal, multigrain versus Cereal, reduced sugar, each path states why the destination belongs here, so you can distinguish a true evidentiary connection from a merely similar label.
Cereal, multigrain and Cereal, reduced sugar are explicitly linked in this guide, which separates direct name matches from contextual variants.
Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Protein: density and serving contextIn this page’s records, protein runs from 8.4 g in Cereal, reduced sugar to 11.6 g in Cereal, multigrain, all per 100 g.
Follow this evidence path A formulation detail that separates records Calcium as ingredientUSDA input 999301 appears in 1 of 2 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 0–0 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.
Follow this evidence path A formulation detail that separates records Flour, rice, white, unenrichedUSDA input 20061 appears in 1 of 2 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 10–10 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.
Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Vitamin D: density and serving contextIn this page’s records, vitamin D runs from 0 µg in Cereal, multigrain to 5 µg in Cereal, reduced sugar, all per 100 g.
Follow this evidence path 2 context records in this source topic Ready-to-eat cereal, lower sugar (=<21.2g/100g)Cereal, multigrain and Cereal, reduced sugar belong to this USDA source-category collection. Its displayed ranges and complete exact-record catalog provide the peer set for a manual comparison; the destination does not preselect this page’s record.
Follow this evidence path Inspect an exact record Cereal, multigrainOpen the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2708465 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.
Follow this evidence path