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Breakfast Cereals
WLR dietitian Juliette Kellow reveals that a new Which?
report shows that many breakfast cereals still contain high
levels of fat, sugar and salt.
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Cereal Killers
By WLR Dietitian
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A new Which? Report has highlighted, once again, that many
breakfast cereals are still packed with fat, sugar and salt.
The
consumer organisation looked at 275 cereals and compared them
with the Food Standard’s traffic light labelling for fat,
saturates, sugar and salt. More than three quarters had high
levels of sugar (more than 15g per 100g), a fifth had high
levels of salt (more than 1.5g per 100g) and 7 percent had high
levels of saturates (more than 5g per 100g). Worryingly, of the
cereals targeted at children, nine out of 10 were high in sugar.
WLR says:
Health experts are increasingly telling us how important it
is to eat breakfast if we want to lose weight and keep it off.
It seems, however, not all cereals are the healthy choice we think
they are.
To check out the ‘healthiness’ of your favourite
cereals, take a look at the Which! Report
www.which.co.uk/cereals Check out at the nutrition
information on packs, too. A cereal is a good choice if it
contains…
- less than 3g fat per 100g
- less than 1.5g saturates per 100g
- less than 5g sugars per 100g
- less than 0.3g salt per 100g
In the meantime, you can improve the overall balance and
nutrient content of your breakfast by following these rules…
- Opt for wholegrain cereals – they contain more fibre and
so will help to fill you up. Plus research shows eating three
servings of wholegrains every day helps to lower the risk of
heart disease and cancer.
- Choose skimmed or semi-skimmed milk to go with cereal.
- Add extra fruit to cereal – try sliced banana,
strawberries, raspberries, dried apricots, sliced mango, even
fruit salad.
- If you fancy a change, top cereal with low-fat natural or
fruit yogurt.
- Serve cereal with a small glass of unsweetened fruit
juice. The vitamin C it contains will help the body to make
the best use of the iron in the cereal. Fruit juice also
counts as one of the five daily recommended servings of fruit
and veg – but remember, no matter how much you drink, it only
counts as one serving because it’s lower in fibre and contains
more tooth-damaging sugars than fresh fruit.
- Don’t drink tea with breakfast cereal – it contains
tannins, which prevent the body from absorbing iron.
- Don’t add raw bran to cereal – it might boost fibre
intakes but it also contains phytates that stop certain
minerals such as iron, calcium and zinc from being absorbed.
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