What did you have for breakfast this morning? Did it chat to you? If it did, the odds are that you had Rice Krispies, the world famous talking cereal, one of the only talking foods in the world in fact! But have you ever wondered why Rice Krispies babble on as they do at breakfast time when oatmeal lies there like a big, silent lump? Yes, you guessed it, today on the JSP science blog, we’re going to solve that age-old science mystery… Why do Rice Krispies snap, crackle, pop? 

You’d think that scientists would have solved that problem long ago, but then again it’s probably not the sort of research the government funds! But we’re finally in luck, the mystery have finally been solved. And it turns out that there is more than one answer. Answer number 1: The cereal is baked at a super-high temperature. It is so hot in fact, that the sugar in Rice Krispies forms crystals. These sugar crystals can actually “snap” like glass. Answer number 2: Rice Krispies expand during the super heating process. So much so in fact that the “bubbles” in Rice Krispies are way larger than in other puffed rice cereal. How does this make the breakfast cereal talk? The walls are not that strong in these giant rice bubbles. That means that when the milk enters the bubbles, the air gets shoved about. In the end it breaks the walls of the cereal with a snap, crackle, pop… and ta da—talking cereal! Or should we say, musical cereal, because each different sized bubble makes a different sound! 

So there you have it, the mystery of the talking breakfast cereal explained. Thanks to science, breakfast will never be the same again! And the next time an adult tells you not to talk with your mouthful when you are eating Rice Krispies, just tell them it’s the cereal talking, and then tell them why. You will drop their jaws with your awesome command of scientific knowledge—guaranteed!