CALL IT A green rush.

Huel, AG1, Primal Greens, Beyond Greens, Green Vibrance, Supergreen Tonik, Bloom—a veritable forest of powdered greens supplements have taken root in grocery stores and spread to all corners of the Internet.

And now at least one of those companies wants to bring a version of their greens supplement to your children. Today, Bloom is releasing Bloom Kids.

That’s right, a greens powder for parents to buy, stir up as a superdrink, and encourage their children to sip.

As the parent of a child who doesn’t exactly love spinach and broccoli (yet), I had questions.

What Is Bloom Kids?

BLOOM KIDS IS a dietary greens supplement powder designed for children four and older. “Not only is it an easy way to boost fruit and veggie intake in your child’s day, but it also helps soothe digestion, boost immunity, and promote healthy energy levels,” according to press materials.

The supplement comes in two flavors, Strawberry Apple and Tropical Punch, both of which have identical nutrition information and ingredients.

Each (5.4 gram) scoop of Bloom Kids contains 20 calories, 3 grams of carbohydrates (1 gram being fiber). The ingredients list includes (but is not limited to!) organic barley grass, organic spirulina, organic wheat grass, organic flaxseed, organic spinach powder, organic broccoli powder, organic kale powder, organic beet root powder, and many more things kids totally love.

I explained a condensed version of all this to my six-year-old and then I did that thing where I paused to see if he would say anything. Perhaps skeptical given prior misadventures in father-son taste tests, he didn’t respond.

So I prompted him; “How does all that sound to you?”

“Ummmmmm,” he replied.

What Does Bloom Kids Taste Like?

WELL, LET ME present to you the morning in which I prepared Tropical Punch Bloom Kids for my son. Before he woke up, I combined a scoop of the greens powder into eight ounces of water and put it beside his overnight oats.

Upon noticing the glass of forest-green-hued liquid, he stated, in all his six-year-old politeness, “What is that poopy drink?”

“That’s Bloom Kids’ Tropical Punch Greens and Superfoods Multivitamin,” I informed him.

“What does it taste like?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried it.”

“So you try it,” my son said.

Not one to shirk my investigative journalism duties, I took a sip. I did the best I could to keep a straight face in an attempt to coax him toward his own sample, but my taste buds writhed. The initial blast of grass is like licking a lawnmower blade, which is then followed by a rush of fake sweetness, provided by steviol glycosides, that is so cloying it’s almost tortuous. It’s a rough way to wake up that I wouldn’t wish on a loved one.

“Okay, your turn,” I said.

My son removed a spoon from the kitchen drawer and stirred the murky liquid.

“It looks like a swamp,” he said, before he lifted the drink to his nose. “And I’m not okay with the smell of it.”

Then, he took a sip.

“Gaaaaaahhhhhhhccccccckkkkk! Gross! I hate it!” He said, as he fled from the table.

Is Bloom Kids Healthy?

“POSSIBLY?” SAYS BRIAN St. Pierre, M.S., C.S.C.S., R.D., director of nutrition at Precision Nutrition. “It’s full of dried veggies, fruits, and grasses, so in theory this should be healthy.”

Emphasis on dried. Despite the happy dancing anthropomorphic pieces of produce on Bloom Kids’ packaging, greens powders lack many of the nutrients that make actual, non-dried, from-the-earth veggies, fruits, and grasses so nutritious to begin with.

And when I compared Bloom Kids side-by-side with the multivitamin my son was already taking, both products were pretty much equal, save for Bloom Kids’ inclusion of pre- and probiotics.

St. Pierre cautioned that Bloom Kids, like a multivitamin, is not a replacement for whole fruits and vegetables. “Not even close,” he says. “It’s missing the fiber for sure, and likely many other nutrients (vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals) that get lost in processing.”

And then there’s the whole issue of third-party certification.

Is Bloom Kids Third-Party Certified?

YES, THROUGH A company called Eurofins.

Third-party certification is a gold standard in the supplement world. The certification basically ensures that’s what’s advertised on the label is actually in the product itself, as verified by an entity that isn’t the company itself. (NSF, USP, Informed Choice, are all established and trusted third-parties in this space.)

A third-party certification is kind of a big deal “because many greens powders have been found to have relatively high levels of heavy metals,” says St. Pierre. (Any parents with kids who knock back “pouches” are probably well aware of the dangers of heavy metals.)

Bloom’s FAQ states that “Bloom products are third-party tested by ISO-accredited labs to ensure they meet the highest standards … Our products are further tested to confirm the absence of contaminants like heavy metals, microbes and pesticides, and gluten–so you can be sure what’s on the bottle is what’s in the supplement.”

Should Kids Take a Greens Supplement?

THAT DEPENDS, SAYS St. Pierre.

“Could it be helpful for picky kids who eat very few fruits and vegetables? Possibly, yes. But it is definitely not required for kids to be healthy. And if they are already eating 4 to 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables, there is nothing to indicate adding this on top will make them extra healthy.”

Would St. Pierre regularly give greens powders like Bloom Kids to his children?

“No, I would not,” he says.

I asked another dietitian, who is also a parent, for their opinion.

“A greens supplement can contribute antioxidants to the diet,” says Abby Langer, R.D., a Men’s Health nutrition advisor, “But otherwise, I think greens powders are wellness industry hype with not a lot of evidence to support them.”

Langer also mentions the idea of “medicalizing” eating. “Are we teaching our kids that we need more than food to be healthy?” she asks. “As a dietitian, the majority of supplements I see my clients taking are unnecessary. We want to keep the focus on food, and letting kids be kids, without buying into the wellness industry and the perception that supplements are necessary for health.”

Which makes you wonder…

Should Kids Take Supplements at All?

AS A BOY who grew up chomping Flintstone vitamins, and a dad who buys (third-party certified!) gummy vitamins for his own kids, I was surprised to learn that, no, most kids don’t need to take supplements.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that if a kid is healthy and eating a well-balanced diet, they shouldn’t need a vitamin supplement. There are exceptions, yes, but those are best discussed with your child’s pediatrician before you consider a supplement.

Certain supplements can produce harmful reactions in kids. (The AAP sent me a long list, though greens powders were not yet on it.) And parents should know that the dietary supplement market, in general, is largely unregulated.

“[Consumers] should understand that dietary supplement regulations differ from over-the-counter or prescription medications regulations,” says Amy B. Cadwallader, Ph.D., director of regulatory and public policy at U.S. Pharmacopeia. “Generally, medicines go through a rigorous FDA approval process before entering the market. Dietary supplements do not undergo this approval process, meaning that generally supplements enter the market without any pre-market review by FDA.”

Why Is Bloom Kids a Thing?

IT MAY NOT be a coincidence that greens powders are green.

There’s big money (like, billions) to be made in the world of children’s health supplements, according to a recent market outlook from Future Market Insights Inc. After experiencing growth from 2019 to 2024, the category is expected to grow another 4.7 percent in the next 10 years, according to the report.

Yes, children’s health supplements includes baby formula and multivitamins, but consider these lines from the report: “Rising investment by key companies to develop high-quality supplements and increasing innovations in supplement formulations are augmenting market growth … with their appealing taste, texture, and convenience.”

Yes, their appealing taste and texture.

I have a six-year-old who would like to speak with you about those very things.