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Take a walk along the cereal aisle of the supermarket and you’d think it was the heart of a healthy diet. Attention is paid to the garish packaging and comforting claims: High in fiber from whole grains! Healthy gut fuel! Nine vitamins and minerals! Supporting your family’s health! On your side! Support healthy bones! Reduce tiredness and fatigue!
But how healthy are they really? The industry certainly wants us to think so: last month, Gary Pilnick, CEO of Kellogg’s – which makes six of the UK’s top ten best-selling cereals – suggested that “cereals for dinner” were “far more affordable” option for families struggling to cope with the cost of groceries.
The cost of many of Pilnick’s cereals makes this a big claim, although a recent study by the Food Foundation showed that own brand cereals in the supermarket were not only cheaper but also healthier than the brands. The more insidious idea is that some highly processed grains and a slosh of half-cuts of any kind are a reasonable substitute for a proper evening meal of protein, vegetables and complex carbs.
There are other concerns too, particularly with regard to fortification – the “contains nine vitamins and minerals” claims. Some may be a good thing, for example vitamin D, which is produced in our bodies from sunlight and may be in short supply in the winter months. But as Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University, points out in her book, Food Politics, “increasingly popular vitamin and mineral supplementation” is unlikely to improve our health and “raises concerns about the potential dangers of too much of a good thing”. Nestle is clearly writing on their blog that “extra vitamins are marketing rather than health”. They allow manufacturers to make health claims, and health claims sell – especially when they distract us from high levels of sugar and salt.
Take niacin (vitamin B3), a vital vitamin in the right quantities that is added to many cereals. A recent study showed links between excessive levels of niacin and an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiac conditions. Another study, in the journal General Psychiatry, looked at thiamine (vitamin B1) – an important nutrient fortified in breakfast cereals. People who consumed large amounts, over 1mg per day, showed increased rates of cognitive decline, the confusion and memory loss that blinds old age for many.
A 30g portion of Rice Krispies, fortified with thiamine, provides 0.27mg, which may be useful. However, there are plenty of other places, such as peas, bananas and crustacean bread, where you may already be getting enough. And anyway, who eats the tiny portions recommended by the manufacturers? I weighed the correct amount of each of the 14 grains I tried, and frankly I have egg cups that hold more than some.
It’s very tempting to overeat those grains that fall into the ultra-processed food (UPF) category, which is any made using processes you couldn’t replicate at home, and which contain ingredients you could not buy at home. supermarket. It is often difficult to stop eating these enticingly marketed cereals. In a House of Lords select committee last month, Dr Chris Van Tulleken, an anti-UPF campaigner, held up a packet of Coco Pops and argued that big industry was producing addictive products like the tobacco industry. Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Flakes packet sums it up in 4cm high letters: “The trouble is they taste too good.”
Let’s not tar all grains with the same brush, though. There are cereals out there that start the day well. And there’s no doubt that they provide a quick fix – although sometimes they’re very quick, going so fast that there’s an incentive to shovel it in at top speed. Sure, you may have already ditched cereal for breakfast, in search of a low-carb, less processed option – but you might want to reconsider. The best ones provide a good source of fiber and a complex, slow-release carbohydrate. So don’t be a cereal slayer: pick and choose a wholesome option that really stacks up their claims.
It is extremely high in sugar and protein, although these two figures are skewed because milk powder is already included. Balanced in fiber (3.6g) and contains a flavoring and reflective agent, so it’s ultra-processed.
Breakfast pot noodle style: just filled up from the kettle. The result is gluey and wildly sweet with a strange taste of flavored caramel rather than golden syrup. gloomy
Yellow on the traffic light system for sugar (5.3g per 30g serving), and no big shakes on protein and fiber, and plenty of UPF ingredients including palm oil, antioxidant and coloring.
Sweet, crisp and airy with caramel nuttiness. A little fiber humor but not enough to put the kids off, so it could be a gateway to higher fiber cereals. But it doesn’t seem like it’s very filling.
Balanced in fiber (3.8g per two servings of biscuits) and protein, with little sugar. But it does contain barley extract, which Van Tulleken says is a flavor enhancer and puts these in the UPF category.
Smooth malt and crisps and the crispness quickly dispersing into mush. On the bland side. The packet recommends adding berries and seeds, which seems like a good idea for flavor and nutrition.
Added wheat gluten, a complete protein, provides up to 7.6g per serving of biscuits. It has similar levels of sugar and fiber to regular Weetabix, plus that UPF-detected barley extract.
The texture is different – there are crunchy, nubly bits reminiscent of Grape Nuts, and a faint pleasant bitterness that could be the result of some cocoa powder in the mix. I prefer these to the regular Weetabix.
Low in fibre, just 0.9g per 30g serving, 2.1g protein and 2.4g sugar. It contains barley malt extract, a UPF ingredient.
Gently sweet, almost malty, malty with a hint of bitter flavors that enhance the flavor of the milk – no wonder cereal milk is a thing. Crisp, but turning soggy in about three minutes. No filling.
For a cereal that sells itself as fiber, 3.6g per 40g is disappointing. There is a lot of sugar, although this will be partly due to the dried fruit. It contains malted barley extract and is therefore ultra-processed.
Generously packed with fruit and coconut, and sweet and crispy flakes that go soggy in three minutes. A very small official portion though (40g is only 100ml or half a cup of tea). You would pour a lot more.
6.3g of protein per 50g serving, which is a good amount, a respectable 3.7g of fiber and 3.6g of sugars (partly down to the dried fruit). There is no malted barley extract, but there is fructose, which according to Sao Paulo University professor Carlos Monteiro, one of the people who first recognized the dangers of ultra-processed foods, is a marker for UPF.
Toasted oats and seed flavor, but chopped, not in clumps like traditional granola. Quite sweet, but wholesome, although the official portion of 50g is only 75ml. “You’ll find nature’s most nutritious ingredients in our cereals,” says the pack, which feels hyperbolic – there are no Brazil nuts, for starters.
4.3g of protein, 4g of fiber and 6.6g of sugar per 45g serving – all from the dried fruit. Nothing even vaguely ultra-processed among the ingredients.
The official portion of 45g is just 60ml or 4 tbsp, making it more of a crop than a grain itself. Just as well, because it is heavy going, with raw tasting oats, and I can not find the Brazil nuts.
It appears to be low in sugar and good stuff, at 1.9g of protein, 1.1g of fiber and 5.1g of sugars per 30g serving. Contains malted barley extract and flavorings.
I am completely disarmed by these. Sweet but not too much and thanks to the bitterness of the cocoa they are really quite sophisticated. But I’d still rather have them as pudding than breakfast.
A whopping 11g of sugar, a measly 0.8g of fiber and even with the peanuts the protein is only 1.8g per 30g portion. It also has malted barley extract and is so sweet I can feel my gums recede in panic, like I ate a pack of chocolate hobnobs. Except chocolate hobnobs have less sugar. Lord
4.5g sugars – on the high side. 2.4g of protein and 1.8g of fiber per 30g portion: I’d like to see more of both in this “dieter’s” cereal. It contains barley malt extract, and a slightly higher boost than other cereals.
These light and sweet flakes have a lovely nubly crunch with an irresistible flavor. They don’t go soggy as quickly as cornflakes, so there’s no need to bolt them.
Below average 2.4g of sugars, 2.1g of protein and just 0.9g of fiber per 30g portion. Contains barley malt extract.
Airy with a subtle, toasty flavor, they go soggy very quickly. To be fair, they’re not too sweet, but they’re not filling either.
Finally, a cereal with the right balance, just 0.4g of sugar, as well as a decent 4.4g of protein (without milk) and 3.6g of fiber per 40g portion. Just oats there, and simply rolled, minimally processed, and the oats are good slow release carbs.
Cooks up to a simple breakfast, with a good nubly texture. I like mine with a little pinch of salt.
*The protein score is above the portion made with half milk, half water. Red (4.4g) without milk.
5g sugar, 4.3g protein and 4.8g fiber per 40g portion. Contains malted barley extract – although the shape alone is an indicator, these are highly processed.
Dear little bathmat-shaped pieces, very sweet and ultra malty, crunchy go soft within three minutes. Nice but very confected, like having digestives for breakfast.
Less than 0.5g sugar, 4.4g protein and 2.8g fiber per 30g portion. Very respectable, and the only ingredient is wheat. Even if puffing said it would be difficult to make wheat at home, it is quite simple so these are not UPF.
Sadly these are chewy and fuzzy, like tiny wotsits or polystyrene depending on your perspective. A bit of a toasted wheat flavor in there – weirdly nostalgic, but not delicious. Remember, your 30g will get you a large bowl (250ml).
0.3g of sugar, 5.5g of fiber and 5.5g of protein per two biscuits, which is pretty hard to fault. Pure wheat, although I can’t imagine how these are made.
They taste wiry and tough, as I have fallen face down on a doormat, and very unique, with a small whiff of cardboard. The cereal hair shirt.
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