TIP
2
TIP
Look for wholegrain
3
TIP
4
Be moderate with
sugars
I don’t want a sugary cereal but I
don’t mind a little sweetness. So I
follow a general rule summarised
from many criteria over the years
e.g. Choice, Heart Foundation Tick,
which says to choose a cereal 15 per
cent sugars or less, or 25 per cent
sugars or less if the cereal has dried
fruit such as sultanas, raisins, dried
apple or dried apricots (e.g. Sultana
Bran, Just Right, Fibre Plus, muesli)
as these contribute their own
sweetness. The content of sugars
varies from a tiny one per cent for
oats, Vita Brits or Weeties to almost
a hefty 40 per cent in Frosties, Froot
Loops or Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes.
Added sugar in cereals is such a
festering sore that I plan to write a
separate post on it.
Note: “sugars” includes both added
AND natural. The food label isn’t
helpful here! N
Go easy on sodium
(salt)
Ideally you want as little sodium as
possible. Technically a low-salt
cereal must have less than 120mg
per 100g but companies today have
been gradually reducing their salt
content, which is a great
improvement on years past.
Compare brands and buy the lowest
sodium content you can. Anything
under 400mg per 100g is good.
Cereal
Sugars %
Fibre %
Fat %
Sodium
mg per 100 g
Oats, raw
0
10
9
nosh magazine
Look for a cereal that contains 50
per cent whole grains or more. It’s usually
splashed all over the front. The more, the
better. Weet-Bix has 97 per cent whole
grains while rolled oats hits the max at
100 per cent. If not, you can check the list
of ingredients for clues that “Whole
Grains” are present. Words like whole
wheat, whole barley, oat AND brown rice
are clues. My tip: go for a cereal that
contains the words ‘whole ’ or ‘
wholegrain ’ in the first two ingredients.
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Vita-Brits
<1
12
2
400
Weeties
1
12
2
400
Shredded Wheat
2
13
1
10
Weet-bix
3
11
1
290
Corn Flakes
8
3
0
550
Rice Bubbles
9
1
0
550
Mini Wheats, Mixed berry
11
10
1
10
Guardian
12
22
1
215
All-Bran
14
30
3
380
Uncle Toby’s Bran Plus
14
40
5
390
Vogel’s Ultra Bran
14
26
2
320
Special K
15
3
0
490
Cheerios
16
10
3
295
Muesli*
18
11
7
28
Sustain
20
6
3
97
Barley Max Digestive
21
25
6
56
Sultana Bran
23
15
2
270
Just RIght
29
8
2
30
Crunchy Nut Flakes
32
3
3
355
Nutri-Grain
32
3
1
560
Coco Pops
37
1
0
465
Froot Loops
38
2
2
400
Frosties
41
2
0
350
All figures rounded to the nearest whole number. Source: Manufacturers’ data / Calorie King
Australia online.
*Manufacturers’ data: Uncle Toby’s Swiss-style Natural.
CLICK HERE
to read the full article online, which
includes Catherine’s Cereal Label
Decoder and her Top 10 picks for
Healthy Breakfast Cereals.
Catherine Saxelby, APD
Learn more about Catherine: website | profile
Catherine is an accredited nutritionist, dietitian and blogger for busy women who want to
eat right and lose weight. She’s the author of “Catherine Saxelby’s Food and Nutrition
Companion” and offers Fact Sheets and Product Reviews via her website.
+
www.n4foodandhealth.com
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