More than half of kid’s cereals provide at least 50% of a child’s daily sugar allowance in one 30g bowl.
That’s according to new figures from Sinks-taps.com, which found none of the cereals tested were below 25% of a child’s recommended daily allowance (RDA).
Of the cereals tested, Frosties came out top of the sugar pile, containing 71% of a child’s RDA per bowl.
‘This investigation into the sugar in children’s cereals has been truly worrying, and we hope this information will help parents make more informed decisions on breakfast foods for their kids,’ Richard Broadbent, managing director of Sinks-taps.com, said.
‘It is especially concerning how even with the recommended serving size, there is a large percentage of a child’s daily allowance of sugar used up before school.’
Breakfast table billboards
Despite reducing sugar content by 40%, Kellogg’s Coco Pops still contains 46% of a child’s RDA of sugar.
Supermarket own brands faired slightly better, with Waitrose containing the lowest average sugar content in its cereals.
Cereals are the second largest contributors of free sugars in children’s diets and the BDA is calling for sweeping changes to marketing and product formulation.
‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but sadly marketeers are misleading the public on what constitutes healthy options and acceptable portion sizes,’ Russ Ladwa, chair of the BDA’s Health and Science Committee, said.
‘It’s a toxic mix, with claims on “nutritional benefits” designed to blind consumers to sugar content, images of super-sized portions to encourage overconsumption, and emotive language to fuel pester power.
‘The result is a recipe for tooth decay and obesity.
‘These billboards on our breakfast tables still fall entirely outside advertising regulations for marketing sugary foods to kids.
‘Until Government tightens up marketing rules, and sets concrete targets on reformulation, the UK will miss sugar reduction targets by a country mile.’
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