Articles

Sugary cereals are like serving dessert for breakfast: Report

Some popular breakfast brands, even some that are supposedly heathy, contain more sugar per cup than a Twinkie

Vancouver Sun, Mon Dec 19 201, By Randy Shore

A new research report warns that many major label break-fast cereals contain as much or more sugar per one-cup serving as a typical dessert. Kellogg's Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp and General Mills Wheaties Fuel contain more sugar per cup than a Twinkie. A purportedly healthy cereal choice, Honey Nut Cheerios, exceeded the sugar content of three Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies in the analysis by the U.S.-based Environmental Working Group.

But Cheerios needn't take all the heat. More than 40 other cereals in the Sugar in Children's Cereals report exceeded the sugar content of a serving of cookies. Five of the top 10 are Kellogg's products, while Quaker owned four of the top spots. The 10 cereals with the highest sugar content ranged from 41.4 per cent sugar by weight, about 12 grams per serving, up to 55.6 per cent, or 20 grams per serving. Canada's Food Guide does not set an upper limit on personal sugar consumption, but Health Canada and the World Health Organization both recommend limiting foods and beverages high in sugar.

The B.C. Medical Association warns that the taste for sweets develops early in children - and quotes an American Heart Association recommendation to limit children to no more than 12 grams of sugar per day. Richmond-based Nature's Path Organic line of breakfast cereals was among only a handful of products that the public health research group gave a passing grade for containing a good balance of sugar, sodium, fat and whole grains. Vancouver dietitian Gloria Tsang's research on breakfast cereals for Healthcastle.com notes that all 10 of the highest sugar cereals have a cartoon character on the label, clearly meant to attract children. "For ideal nutrition, choose a cereal that has whole-grain flour as the first ingredient, and contains less than four grams of sugar and at least five grams of fibre per serving," said Tsang, author of the myth-busting diet book Go UnDiet.

TOP 10 CEREALS FOR SUGAR BY WEIGHT (sugar content by weight as %)

1. Kellogg's Honey Smacks 55.6%
2. Post Golden Crisp 51.9%
3. Kellogg's Froot Loops Marshmallow 48.3%
4. Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's OOPS! All Berries 46.9%
5. Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch (original) 44.4%
6. Quaker Oats Oh's 44.4%
7. Kellogg's Smorz 43.3%
8. Kellogg's Apple Jacks 42.9%
9. Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries 42.3%
10. Kellogg's Froot Loops (original) 41.4%

Articles

Sugary cereals are like serving dessert for breakfast: Report

Comments