Better nutrition

General Mills is the latest company to reduce the amount of sugar in its products — in this case, cereal.

The company announced Wednesday that it will cut back the sugar in 10 of its cereals to single-digit grams per serving.

Cocoa Puffs will have 25 percent less sugar from the product's original level and 18 percent less than its current 11 grams per serving, the Associated Press reported. Presumably, Lucky Charms and Trix would receive similar treatment.

"The reduction ... doesn't represent perfection but it represents improvement," said Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.

Consumers, health groups and federal regulators have sought more nutritious food products, increasing the pressure on major food companies. Kellogg Co. and Post Foods have made their cereals more nutritious as well, in keeping with consumer demand.

The Food and Drug Administration has started to demand truth in packaging, forcing one industry group to halt its "Smart Choices" labeling program which was judged inaccurate.

The Rudd Center has found that the least-nutritious breakfast cereals are the most heavily marketed directly to kids. It also found that children who ate highly sweetened cereals consumed twice as much as those who ate low-sugar cereals.

Concerns about obesity and the desire to instill healthy eating habits are behind this drive to have food companies improve their products. This is a positive trend.