breaking news! Some kids' cereals may have way too much sugar, up to 55% by weight

[Liberal_in_LA]

was this study needed? :-) :eyes: We all know that cereals for kids are super sugary.


Before you pour your child a heapin' bowl of sugary cereal, read this: The Environmental Working Group has just come out with its list of the 10 worst children's cereals. Your child's favorite might be on it.

At No. 1 is Kellogg's Honey Smacks, coming in at 55.6% sugar by weight, followed by Post Golden Crisp at 51.9% and Kellogg's Froot Loops Marshmallow at 48.3%. The list also includes, in descending order of sugar, Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch OOPS! All Berries (yes, that's really the name), Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch original, Quaker Oats Oh!s, Kellogg's Smorz, Kellogg's Apple Jacks and Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries. In last place, a somewhat dubious achievement, is Kellogg's Froot Loops original at 41.4% sugar by weight.

How much sugar is that? The report found that a cup of Kellogg's Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp or General Mills Wheaties Fuel has more sugar at 18.7 to 20 grams than does a Hostess Twinkie, which comes in at 17.5 grams.

Also, not all cereal brands are created equal, at least when it comes to the sweet stuff. Original Cheerios, according to the report, is 3.6% sugar, while the Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate and Fruity varieties are 33% sugar.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-sugar-cereal-children-20111207,0,7280271.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

[burrowowl]

1. Plus the sugar in milk!

[CottonBear]

3. Silk is Soy organic unsweetened soy milk is delicious and has no added sugar! n/t

[CottonBear]

2. I don't feed my child cereals. I used to buy Public Greenwise organic, unsweetened toasted oats

but Publix stopped carrying the product. it was the only organic, non-sugar cereal that I could find.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. I thought cheerios was supposed to be low in sugar.

[riverbendviewgal]

6. only 3 percent for plain cheerios

33 percent for the flavored.

Try Stevia to make dishes sweeter. It is not sugar..

[CottonBear]

13. The article linked in the OP states that original Cheerios are just 3.6% sugar.

I was feeding my child organic, unsweetned toasted oats. The other organic brands seem to have a lot of sugar.

edit: sp. It is difficult to find any unsweetened cereals.

[antigone382]

17. It probably wouldn't be too hard to toast your own oats...

I imagine you could just mix them with a little oil so they wouldn't burn up, and pop them in the oven on a sheet pan. Probably a little cheaper, too, since you can buy rolled oats in pretty big packages at a lot of natural food stores.

[CottonBear]

19. That is a good idea! I'l check out the local co-op for rolled oats this week.

Thanks for the idea! :)

[antigone382]

22. No prob! If you want to get fancy, throw in some nuts and raisins and make granola!

[riverbendviewgal]

5. sugar cereal was not allowed in my home

when my boys were growing up. Oatmeal, bran and plain cheerios and plain rice krispies was all I bought. They wined and loved going to their cousins for the sugary fruit loops and lucky charms.

Good to see that the media is now putting out the news about sugar.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. I loved lucky charms. Little marshmallow things. What's not to love?

:-)

[SpankMe]

7. I know this stuff is bad for you.

But, I love Froot Loops and Cap'n Crunch w/ Crunch Berries. Yum!!

I'm bad. BAD!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. I loved Cap'n Crunch as a kid

[CottonBear]

14. Me too. Now I have lots of fillings and crowns. n/t

[Eddie Haskell]

9. Surprise, surprise.

Who would have guessed that those frost laden flakes had a sugar coating?

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. lol n/t

[kestrel91316]

12. Wow, who knew??

ETA: I have considered them in the same category as candy for decades. But I still love several of them: Life, Cap'n Crunch, Cocoa Krispies......I could go on.

[tomm2thumbs]

15. When Sugar Bear is the mascot for Super Sugar Crisp, the sugar just gushes

but change the name to 'Golden' Crisp (which they did) and suddenly you don't realize it's all about the sugar.
<g>

[Taverner]

16. What's sad is that the "healthy" cereals aren't much better

Granted, there are truly healthy cereals out there. But most granola is really high in sugar, as are the corn flakes, and oat cluster cereals.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

18. Is there a war on sugar or something? There was another thread today bemoaning

sugar in fruit drinks.

[Robb]

20. By weight? Sugar is twice as dense as flour, IIRC.

Not that this helps these cereals' cases considerably. :D

[Bigmack]

21. My cardiologist says sugar should be a controlled substance...

.. he says it's addictive.

I cut sugar out.. played with the "glycemic index" stuff, too.

Lost 30 lbs in 6 months.

NOT a diet.... never hungry!

The first two weeks was awful... withdrawal symptoms like a muthah!

[Pithlet]

23. Fruit Loops Marshmallow. Gag!

I'm surprised Lucky Charms isn't on that list.