The campaign group Action on Sugar has said most breakfast bars contain the same or more sugar than a bowl of Kellogg’s Coco Pops.
A product survey by Action on Sugar analysed 39 breakfast biscuits sold in leading UK supermarkets. It said 46% of those surveyed contain the same or more sugars than a bowl (30g) of Kellogg’s Coco Pops, and 38% would have a red warning colour on the nutrition label for high sugar content.
It added: “Not one single product featured green front-of-pack labelling for sugars. Every single product contained at least one, and some up to four teaspoons of sugar per serving.”
The campaign group has urged the government to include reformulation and clearer guidance on labelling as part of its Childhood Obesity Strategy, due to be published this summer.
The four products with the highest sugar content per serving are: Lidl Sondey Envitas Breakfast Biscuits Chocolate & Hazelnut flavour and Lidl Sondey Envitas Breakfast Biscuit Chocolate, followed by BelVita Breakfast Yogurt Crunch Creamy Live Yogurt Cocoa Biscuits (two biscuits in a pouch), and BelVita Breakfast Cocoa with Choc Chip (four biscuits in a pouch).
The bars with the lowest sugar content per serving include: Aldi Harvest Morn Breakfast Biscuits Milk & Cereal, Nairn’s Gluten Free Biscuit Breaks Oats & Stem Ginger, Nairn’s Gluten Free Biscuit Breaks Oats & Syrup, Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Breakfast Granola Crunch Biscuits Honey Oat, Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Breakfast Granola Crunch Biscuits Choc Chip, McVitie’s Breakfast Oaty Breaks Porridge Oats & Golden Syrup, and Asda Chosen by You Milk & Oat Breakfast Biscuits.
For the purposes of the survey, a serving size was taken as the amount of biscuits in a single pouch.
Kawther Hashem, registered nutritionist and researcher at Action on Sugar, said: “Just because a product contains added vitamins and is promoted as a healthy option doesn’t necessarily make it the best option for breakfast on-the-go.”
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