Some U.S. cereals more than half sugar: report

[inanna]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some breakfast cereals marketed to U.S. children are more than half sugar by weight and many get only fair scores on nutritional value, Consumer Reports said on Wednesday.

A serving of 11 popular cereals, including Kellogg's Honey Smacks, carries as much sugar as a glazed doughnut, the consumer group found.

And some brands have more sugar and sodium when formulated for the U.S. market than the same brands have when sold in other countries.

Post Golden Crisp made by Kraft Foods Inc and Kellogg's Honey Smacks are more than 50 percent sugar by weight, the group said, while nine brands are at least 40 percent sugar.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49096420081001

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. This is breaking news?

It's been know for years that processed cereals are mostly junk--not only sugar, but simple carbohydrates, etc. Processed cereals, along with soda pop, are two of the leading reasons why we have so many obese children nowadays.

[hobbit709]

2. Some? I'd say damn near all of the ones aimed at kids

[mainegreen]

3. My cereal is fiber, sticks and weasel bits, and that's the way I like it.

It takes HALF AN HOUR to even get slightly soggy!

Hell yeah!

[Warpy]

13. I eat my fibre, sticks and weasel bits out of the box

er, bag, as a snack when I want something crunchy. It's healthier than chips and keeps me regular. Drowning it in milk is not an option because I'm lactose intolerant and have hated milk since I was a kid and my mother thought I'd die without it and whenever she didn't turn her back long enough for me to pour it down the sink, I'd get the trots.

Besides, it's cheaper than chips these days.

[HereSince1628]

4. Wall street is CRASHING!!! You are to worry about sugar in kid's cereals mostly eaten by adults

It's almost like the crisis and the $700 billion rescue is phoney. :rofl:

[asthmaticeog]

8. The human mind is amazing.

Its complexity makes it capable of caring about more than one problem at a time.

In most cases.

[trotsky]

5. Kellogg's Honey Smacks

There's a reason they were called SUGAR Smacks when I was a kid. And they're puffed rice, so being half sugar should be no surprise.

[Serial Mom]

6. Other countries have Health Departments that help protect their people

"And some brands have more sugar and sodium when formulated for the U.S. market than the same brands have when sold in other countries."

While we have departments here that protect BIG BUSINESS!

[dipsydoodle]

7. The children are probably safer

just eating the carton which the cereals are in which has probably got higher nutritional value too.

[HopeHoops]

9. Flashback: Calvin & Hobbes - Calvin's favorite cereal was "Chocolate Covered Sugar Bombs"

[cyberswede]

10. "The most healthful...

"The most healthful brands are Cheerios with three grams of fiber per serving and one gram of sugar, Kix and Honey Nut Cheerios, all made by General Mills, and Life, made by Pepsico Inc's Quaker Oats unit."

LOL - the 4 cereals listed in this paragraph are EXACTLY the ones we buy (along with Mother's Peanut Butter Bumpers). At least they are among the better ones.

[BadgerKid]

12. Meanwhile oatmeal goes underrated.

Saves money, too.

[lizerdbits]

14. Those last 4 are some of the only ones I was allowed to eat

My mom had a sugar cut off of 5g per serving, anything above that was for something like birthdays.

Kellogg's argument about yogurt is pretty funny considering how much sugar they add to it in this country. When I make my own there's about 1 tbsp honey in a quart.

[gauguin57]

11. In other breaking news, the Pope is Catholic and bears poop in the woods.

Who didn't know this after a hefty bowl of Froot Loops or Apple Jacks?

[Nikia]

15. At least they are nutritionally fortified

Meaning that even if they have a lot of sugar that breakfast cereals are not entirely empty calories.
I think that cereal makers should look into ways to increase fiber and decrease sugar and that parents should try to buy cereals that are better in that way. Overall though, breakfast cereal is a good food to include in a child or most people's daily diet.

[trotsky]

16. General Mills deserves some (just some) kudos for switching to whole grain.

I bet, too, that they could decrease the sweetener by 2% every year to bring it down and people would never know the difference.

[dropkickpa]

17. I love my cheerio's

General Mills tends to be the maker of my favorite cereals with the exception of the organic rain bran/crack stuff I found one time. Growing up, 3 times a year my mom would get us the "sugary" cereal (honey nut cheerios) and we'd eat the whole box in a day, but otherwise it was cheerios and horkin fiber chunks all the way. I find the vast majority of the sweet cereals out there to be way too sweet to eat (my only weakness is lucky charms!!).