Too many UK cereals crammed with sugar

Breakfast cereals are a popular choice of breakfast in the UK but many are unsuitable for people with diabetes because of how much and how quickly they affect blood sugar levels.
Consumer Watchdog has released its report on nutrition in breakfast cereal which records Kellogg’s Frosties as the worst offending cereal in terms of sugar content. Frosties is recorded as being 37 per cent sugar. Other cereals exceeding 35 per cent sugar included Coco Pops, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and Sugar Puffs. Supermarket own brand versions of these cereals also recorded similarly high levels of sugar.
Under the ‘traffic light system’ of food labelling, products that are more than 12.5 per cent sugar are recorded as a ‘red light’ high sugar product. Other cereals which fell into this category included Special K, All Bra, Bran Flakes and a number of muesli brands.
As well as naming and shaming the most sugary cereals, the report also identifies the more healthy breakfast cereals which includes Shredded Wheat, Weetabix and Oat So Simple.
The report also highlighted the fact that on pack ‘low fat’ claims could mislead customers into believing highly sugary cereals are healthy. As well as being a poor choice for people with diabetes, sugary cereals could also present problems such as increased blood pressure and cholesterol for people without diabetes.