Pitfalls of cold cereal

We love cold cereal at our house. (Well, my husband reveals he never liked it, but...) Besides the taste, we like that

1. There's fewer dishes to do (Yeah!)
2. You don't have to go hungry while breakfast is cooking
3. No cooking effort
4. Its so fortified that (with a cup of O.J.) you don't even need a prenatal vitamin
5. Its a great way to get whole grains in the diet
   

But, now, eating cold cereal to me means choosing the lesser evils of the following:

	BHT	Malted barley	Modified corn starch	Dried yeast	Soy lecithin	fortified	phosphates
Cheerios			x			x	x
Chex	x					x	x
Grape-Nuts		x		x	x	x
Grape-Nuts Flakes		x				x
Kix						x	x
Shredded Wheat	x
Wheaties	x					x	x

BHT- a controversial cancer causing preservative
Malted barley, Modified corn starch, Soy lecithin, anything fortified, (dried yeast?) - ingredients which either contain MSG or may produce MSG in processing (See hidden MSG ingredients list)
Phosphates may produce MSG-type reactions

The great news is that Rolled Oats and Cream of the West (a whole-grain version of Cream of Wheat, made using the germ and bran), don't contain any of the above. I've actually avoided these in the past, especially when pregnant, in order to get the fortified vitamins and minerals from cold cereal, but maybe I'll have to re-evaluate how I get vitamins and minerals.

(Don't buy into the instant flavored oatmeal packets which may contain sulfites, guar gum, natural flavor, citric acid, acesulfame-K, and fortified vitamins and minerals.)

Another great thing about oatmeal, besides no additives or preservatives, is that it can be dry packed and stored for 30+ years. I'm trying to find ways to make it tasty, but I think the best tricks are to top it with flax seed, any fruit (bananas, berries, peaches, cooked-in apples) or applesauce and cinnamon (cinnamon is a natural sweetener).