According to Which?, which compared the nutritional content of the top selling breakfast cereals and their own-brand equivalents, 32 out of the 50 were high in sugar.
Cereals aimed at children fared the worst, with 12 out of 14 containing high levels of sugar.
The worst offender was Kellogg’s Frosties, with 37 per cent of sugar, followed by chocolate rice cereal from several supermarkets, and Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Sugar Puffs.
Even cereals marketed as being healthy, such as Kellogg’s All-Bran brand flakes and Special K, were high in sugar.
Which? found Nestle Shredded Wheat to be the healthiest cereal, with its low levels of sugar, fat and salt, along with Quaker Oat So Simple Original and Weetabix.
The research also revealed an inconsistency in nutrition labelling, with different serving sizes between brands, a lack of traffic light labelling information that shows if food has high, medium or low amount of fat, sugars and salt, and inconsistent ‘per serving’ information.
On a more positive note, the consumer watchdog found that reductions in salt across the majority of cereals had been made, however eight cereals still do not meet the salt targets for 2012, which are set at 1.1g of salt per 100g.
Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?, said, ‘It is good news that the salt content of many cereals has been lowered. But Which? research has shown that once again, many top-selling breakfast cereals are too high in sugar. Parents will be particularly surprised by the fact that the majority of children’s cereals contain so much sugar.
‘More action is needed by retailers and manufacturers to provide a wider choice of healthier cereals. The Government also needs to encourage manufacturers to take action over sugar levels and provide consistent nutrition labelling that includes traffic light colour coding so it is easy to see exactly what you are buying.’
