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Children’s cereals: Too much sugar
An Environmental Working Group (EWG) review of 84 popular cereal brands found that one cup of any of 44 popular children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy cookies (11 grams or about 3 teaspoons).
This review, which assessed cereals manufactured by Kellogg’s, Post, General Mills and Quaker, found that only one in four children’s cereals meets the voluntary guidelines proposed earlier this year by the federal Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children. These guidelines recommend no more than 26 % added sugar by weight for ready-to-eat cereals. Out of the 84 cereals reviewed, 56 of them contain more than 26 % sugar by weight.
Here’s the list of the 10 worst children’s cereals, ranked by their percentage of sugar by weight, based on the review’s findings:
| Kellogg’s Honey Smacks | 55.60% |
| Post Golden Crisp | 51.90% |
| Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow | 48.30% |
| Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries | 46.90% |
| Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original | 44.40% |
| Quaker Oats Oh!s | 44.40% |
| Kellogg’s Smorz | 43.30% |
| Kellogg’s Apple Jacks | 42.90% |
| Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries | 42.30% |
| Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original | 41.40% |
As an alternative to these unhealthy choices, EWG suggests oatmeal with fruits and nuts, smoothies, granola with yogurt, etc. Please use our search engine to find out healthy and delicious breakfasts.
Author
Cinzia Cuneo, founder of SOSCuisine.com, never wanted to neglect the quality of her food. She shares her special expertise to make good food quickly and without complications!
It was shocking to me to see Cheerios in the photo as I had always checked it’s sugar levels. Glad to have read the actual study to find that it was mentioned in: “6 Good Big-Brand Cereals
These meet nutrition guidelines and are easy to find but may include ingredients that are genetically modified or grown with pesticides:
Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats:
Unfrosted Bite- Size,
Frosted Big Bite,
Frosted Bite-Size,
Frosted Little Bite
General Mills Cheerios Original**
General Mills Kix Original**
** These meet the Interagency Working Group’s interim 2016 sodium guideline but not the final guideline scheduled to take effect in 2021 (IWG 2011). ”
Picture was rather misleading.
Hi Rebekah, thanks for your comment. I see your point that the picture may be misleading. All we wanted to do was to get parents’ attention and we got a picture with a variety of known cereals.