A new study shows many breakfast cereals pack so much sugar, they're more like desserts.
For
the report, the Environmental Working Group checked the content of 84
popular offerings, and says, "Kellogg's Honey Smacks, at nearly 56
percent sugar by weight, leads the list of the 10 worst children's
cereals."
One cup of Kellogg's Honey Smacks has more
sugar than a Hostess Twinkie, and a cup of 44 other children's cereals
has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! Cookies, according to the EWG.
It adds that only a quarter of the cereals meets voluntary
proposed guidelines of the federal Interagency Working Group on Food
Marketed to Children which, says the EWG, recommend no more than 26
percent added sugar by weight." And the EWG is pushing for even an even
lower lid.
It quotes health expert Dr. Andrew Weil as
saying, "The fact that a children's breakfast cereal is 56 percent sugar
by weight - and many others are not far behind - should cause national
outrage."
The EWG also quotes noted NYU nutrition professor
Marion Nestle as saying, "Cereal companies have spent fortunes on
convincing parents that a kid's breakfast means cereal, and that sugary
cereals are fun, benign, and all kids will eat. The cereals on the EWG
highest-sugar list are among the most profitable for their makers, who
back up their investment
with advertising budgets of $20 million a year or more. No public
health agency has anywhere near the education budget equivalent to that
spent on a single cereal. Kids should not be eating sugar for breakfast.
They should be eating real food."
The EWG's "10 Worst Children's Cereals," based on percent sugar by weight:
1) Kellogg's Honey Smacks -- 55.6 percent
2) Post Golden Crisp -- 51.9 percent
3) Kellogg's Froot Loops Marshmallow -- 48.3 percent
4) Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's OOPS! All Berries -- 46.9 percent
5) Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch Original -- 44.4 percent
6) Quaker Oats Oh!s -- 44.4 percent
7) Kellogg's Smorz -- 43.3 percent
8) Kellogg's Apple Jacks -- 42.9 percent
9) Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries -- 42.3 percent
10) Kellogg's Froot Loops Original -- 41.4 percent
No comments:
Post a Comment