Foodwatch Lots of sugar in kids breakfast cereal

Foodwatch: Too much sugar in breakfast cereals makes kids fat and sick

09/20/2012

Most parents want to feed their children healthy. These include in the morning in many families and breakfast cereal. The consumer protection organization "Foodwatch" examined numerous cereal flakes of various food manufacturers and came to the conclusion that the sugar content in almost all varieties is far too high. Of healthy breakfast cereal can be in view of the study results, no speeches, "said the consumer advocates. "Legislators must take action and set a legally prescribed sugar content for children's flocs."

Cookie Crisp, Smacks and Co .: In the supermarket, the colorful packs of children's breakfast cereal pile up. All advertise with a shrill presentation, healthy ingredients, vitamins and toys. Especially on school days, it must be fast in the morning. "Put the bag on, cornflakes in the bowl and milk over it," says Gesa Meyer from Berlin. "After all, the flakes are full of vitamins and my children eat them rather than bread or fruit," says the mother of three children.

Something like this happens in the morning in hundreds of thousands of families in Germany. Many parents are happy that it is fast on the stressful morning and so far the breakfast cereal was also not suspected of damaging the health of children to a particular extent. Rather, many manufacturers advertise with "valuable ingredients" and "wholegrain" parts are found more and more often in the flakes. But Foodwatch's nutrition experts are totally different. In a "brand check" it turned out that the breakfast flakes contain almost without exception too much sugar and thus promote diseases such as obesity, tooth decay or diabetes.

30 percent sugar in every other variety
For the study, the initiative examined a total of 143 flakes from various food companies. The overwhelming share of the manufacturers promoted the children's favor with a colorful presentation of the packaging. The result: "Every second pack contains at least 30 percent sugar," write the study authors of Foodwatch. Four of five of the cornflakes still had a sugar content of over 20 percent. In fact, six percent of the tested products had a sugar content of less than ten percent.

"Breakfast cereals for children are usually plain sweets with muesli coating," warns Foodwatch spokesman Oliver Huizinga. From a "balanced food, the food industry has made a cheap mixture of flour and sugar," is the criticism of Foodwatch. "Many flakes are sugier than cakes or chocolate biscuits. The so-called cereals for children are therefore one thing above all: sweets with muesli coating and no suitable breakfast for children. "

Cheap sugar and high profits
For manufacturers, the "flakes with the cheap ingredient sugar are a lucrative business". The health effects of children, however, are "fatal". More than 15 percent of children in Germany are considered overweight, and six percent already suffer from obesity (obesity).

Not only the flakes of brand manufacturers such as Nestle'or Kelloggs performed poorly in the study, but also cheap products of the own brands of supermarkets and discounters. Critical parents therefore prefer to use organic products. But here, too, almost 60 percent of the breakfast cereals tested were negative, because they also had a sugar content of over 20 percent. However, some biomarkers have shown that it is also possible to offer "balanced cereals for children with less than ten percent sugar," according to the initiative.

Legal limits required for children's breakfast cereal
The consumer organization calls for the study results "clear legal minimum requirements for children's cereal". So only those products that contain a maximum sugar content of 10 percent, should be marketed only for children. For this it would need "a sugar limit which is set by law. "Because the manufacturers will not stop themselves to lure children with a high sugar content".

Responding to Foodwatch's criticism, Nestlé chef Gerhard Berssenbrügge said: "I can reassure you: our breakfast cereals are not sweets but a full-fledged start to the day." According to consumer advocates, however, there is not a single variety of children's cereal in the world entire Nestlé range containing less than 30 percent sugar. "Even chocolate biscuits and cakes are more balanced," says Foodwatch.

The consumer advocates have started an email campaign and call on all parents to participate. The Nestlé food company is to be called upon to "live up to its responsibility as one of the largest manufacturers and not to promote sugar bombs more than suitable for children." (Sb)

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