Cereal brands still loading up on sugars and salt despite pledges UK

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 01 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT


Breakfast cereals still remain a symptom of the obesity problem in the UK rather than the cure, say researchers. Producers are still claiming their cereals are a healthy way to start the day, despite the fact that many of the leading brands are still loaded with sugars and salt. This is according to research carried out by Which?, a Consumer's Association magazine in the UK.

Obesity is becoming a massive burden on the UK's health care system. Child obesity is increasing at an alarming rate.

Which? looked at the brands produced by the country's top five cereal manufacturers - Quaker, Weetabix, Nestle, Kellog's and Jordans. They looked at a total of 100 brands. The aim was to check whether the healthy image these products convey to the public really were healthy products.

The results of their finding were rather depressing.
-- 85% had 'a lot of sugar' in them. At least 10g per 100g.
-- 9% had 'a lot of saturated fat' in them. At least 20g per 100g.
-- 40% contained 'a lot of salt' in them.

For products that tell us they are in the forefront of healthy foods these findings are alarming (what are our unhealthy products like?).

The cereals which are aimed at children marketed to children seemed to have more sugars and salt in them than the others. They investigated 28 cereals which were directed at children and found that 32% of them had a sugar content of at least 40%. 64% of the cereals had 'a lot of salt' in them.

Cereal bars are heavily promoted in the UK. They are often offered as an alternative to breakfast for people who are pushed for time. The researchers found that these bars are not as bad as chocolate bars or sweet biscuits, but they were not better than the cereals. Many of the bars had a lot of saturated in fat in them.

Which? said "The new research demonstrates how a traffic light labelling system - allowing consumers to see at a glance how much fat, sugar and salt a product contains - could help consumers to distinguish between good and bad foods and balance their diets accordingly."

The Food Standards Agency (UK) defines 'a little sugar' as 2g per 100g. Kellog's Rice Crispies had the lowest sugar levels at 10g per 100g. Neslte's Cheerios had double the Rice Crispies' amount of sugar. Look at products like Kellog's Frosties Chocolate brand and you get four times as much sugar as the Rice Crispies. You might as well give the child a bag of sugar and some water to wash it down.

One thing is obvious here, self regulation will not work. I am not a lawyer, but if a product is not healthy is it legal to promote it as healthy?

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