He’s the tiger who has raised his paw from the box of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes for decades. But is Tony the Tiger really as grrreat as he thinks he is?

Does his cereal truly bowl over kids and adults at the breakfast table? Or is a generic brand just as tasty?

There’s only one way to find out.

We put Tony — as well as Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats — up against generic brands of frosted flakes and frosted mini wheats. The idea came from a recent taste test that Consumer Reports magazine conducted. That test concluded that Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Frosted Mini Wheats and some of their generic counterparts both satisfied morning munchers.

For our taste test, participants weren’t told which cereal was the national brand and which was the generic.

Since he’s the star, we’ll start with Tony.

Frosted Flakes

Tony proved that he was king of the cereal jungle.

But not by a landslide.

Only one point separated Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes from Great Value Frosted Flakes.

Appearance: All but one tester said both cereals looked appealing.

Taste: The Kellogg’s cereal earned comments such as, “fake,” “slightly sweet, also crunchy,” “good,” “too sugary for me,” and “OK, kind of flat.” The Great Value scored comments such as “mmm, tasty,” “maybe a little too sweet and crunchy,” “good, sugary,” “fine — a little too sweet for me” and “tasty.”

Liked: It was the corn taste, crunchiness and yes, the sweetness, of the generic brand that rated with some of the tasters. Only one person said the sweetness was appealing for the Kellogg’s brand. It did earn a kudo for taste and for holding up well in milk. But, one taster said there was nothing about the Kellogg’s brand that appealed to her. Sorry Tony.

Disliked: Tony’s frosted flakes did make a comeback on this one. Two testers said there was nothing to dislike. But the fact that the Kellogg’s cereal went soggy too quickly made it very unappealing for one taster, and another said that the cereal had a “chemically enhanced taste.” Getting soggy too quickly also earned black marks for the Great Value brand, and its appearance totally turned off one tester, while another tester found the cereal too “hard.”

Buy again: One tester would buy the generic cereal again, another would if “it wasn’t too pricey.” One said probably not and two testers said no. But Tony isn’t celebrating. Two testers said they would buy the Kellogg’s again, while three said no.

Rating (On a scale of 1 to 5 with five being the best): Neither cereal earned a 5, but both did earn some 1 ratings.

Frosted Mini-Wheats

While frosted mini-wheats may be considered a breakfast staple by Consumer Reports, the cereal really didn’t impress our panel. But they did taste both Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats and Malt-O-Meal Frosted Mini Spooners. The brand name beat the generic by a landslide.

Appearance: Although they may not care for them, our testers said that the Kellogg’s brand did look appealing. Only one tester found the generic appealing. It earned comments such as, “too uniform” and “more processed than the other one.”

Taste: Where to start? “Gross” and “Terrible! No flavor whatsoever” were the kind of comments the Malt-O-Meal cereal earned. Oh, and don’t forget, “very bland for a cereal with frosting.” Overall, testers said the Kellogg’s tasted better than the generic brand. One taster did rate the cereal as “nasty!”

Liked: The majority of our tasters said they liked the extra sweetness the frosting gave the Kellogg’s cereal. All but one taster said there was nothing to like about the generic brand.

Disliked: Pity the generic brand, it received comments such as “no taste, sour, soggy, like hay, wet hay.” But Kellogg’s shouldn’t celebrate, either. One tester was put off by the cereal’s rough texture and another said it had an unpleasant aftertaste. The Kellogg’s also was compared to eating hay, although the tester said she actually never had tasted hay.

Buy again: Nobody would buy the Malt-O-Meal Frosted Mini Wheats, and one tester said no to buying the Kellogg’s brand. The Kellogg’s also earned a “maybe” answer and one taster said she would buy the name brand again, but only if she actually like shredded wheat.

Rating: The Kellogg’s brand earned one 5 rating. It also was scored a zero by one tester. The generic brand scored the lowest of all the cereals tested with mainly 1 and 2 scores. It also earned a zero from one tester.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com