Top 10 Breakfast Cereals

As we know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, providing children with the energy (kilojoules) they need to keep them alert and active throughout the morning. There are endless boxes of cereals displayed on the supermarket shelves…but are they healthy breakfast cereals? Which ones are the best?

Navigating the supermarket to find healthy breakfast cereals is not a simple task. It can feel like you’re walking into an aisle of bobby-traps. So, we’re here to help.

What you should know 

• Confectionery, chocolate or cereals that have a yoghurt coating should be avoided as they contain increased amounts of sugar and saturated fat and they are not as nutritious as other options.
• Fruit in cereal is beneficial only if it’s actual dried fruit or fruit puree. Steer clear from fruit pieces made from juice as they do not contain adequate dietary fibre to be nutritious.

How did we come up with the top 10?

We know many will ask “where’s the muesli?” or “what about oats?” and we should let you know we left them out for a reason. First, if we included them, the whole list would be dominated by oats and muesli options as so many would meet our criteria. Although, be careful, as just because it calls itself muesli doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Stay tuned for our muesli blog…

For now, we decided to focus on box cereals that contain less than 2.5g/100g of saturated fat and less than 400 mg of sodium/100g. The sugar limitations vary depending on a cereal’s ingredients: a cereal without fruit must not have more than 20g of sugar/100g, and a cereal with dried fruit must not have more than 25g/100g.  We also looked for cereals that contain at least 7g of dietary fibre and that are 40% whole grain, as this provides children and adolescents with at least one third of their recommended daily whole grain intake. The price, suitability for children and taste were also taken into consideration.

Our Top 10

The table at the end of this article provides nutrient information for all of these healthy breakfast cereals. We compared cereals based on 100g of each product as serving sizes differ depending on the cereal.

 1. Uncle Toby’s Shredded Wheat

This cereal is 100% whole grain and very low in sodium and added sugar. However, because of this, it has quite a bland taste. We suggest adding fresh fruit or low-fat yoghurt to give it some extra flavour.

2. ALDI Wheat Biscuits

These biscuits contain very low amounts of sugar and are made up of 97% whole grains, providing a good amount of dietary fibre. Only available at Aldi Supermarkets.

3. Sanitarium Weet-Bix Original

An oldie but a goodie, Weet-Bix are high in whole grains and dietary fibre and are also low in sugar. They’re a healthy crowd pleaser!

4. Uncle Toby’s VitaBrits Weeties

This cereal contains 99% whole grains providing a high amount of dietary fibre while having a low sugar content. It’s sodium content is on the higher end of the scale giving it a salty taste which some of our tasters did not like.

5. Uncle Toby’s Cheerios: This classic has a moderate amount of sodium, sugar and dietary fibre which means its right in the middle of all the cereals we assessed.

6. Sanitarium Weet-Bix Bites (Apricot)

These bites have more sugar due to the apricot fruit puree but it still contains a good amount of wholegrain and dietary fibre. They also taste great and can be placed in your child’s lunchbox for recess as a dry snack.

7. Kellogg’s Sustain

While this cereal has a very low sodium content, it’s sugar content is on the higher end of the spectrum. This may be due to the dried fruit content of the cereal. It’s dietary fibre and wholegrain content are also low compared to the others.

8. Sanitarium Light �?n’ Tasty (Berry)

The sodium content of this cereal is low and the sugar content is in the middle of the range. For this reason a few of our taste testers found it too sweet. Light ‘n’ Tasty’s dietary fibre and wholegrain content are also on the low end of the spectrum.

9. Kellogg’s All-Bran Wheat Flakes

The marketing speaks the truth! This product is high in dietary fibre but because it contains more bran than whole grains, it is towards the end of our list. It also has one of the highest amounts of sodium and little sugar.

10. Kellogg’s Sultana Bran

Sultana Bran is a great low-saturated fat, high fibre option. It is lower in whole grains but contains lots of sultanas. If you’re after something nice and sweet tasting, this is the cereal.

It is important to note that all these cereals are great options as they all meet our criteria!  Choose one that satisfies your kids’ taste buds or swap between them to keep things interesting and varied.

Eating breakfast cereal with reduced-fat milk or reduced-fat yoghurt also helps get those important dairy serves into your child’s daily diet.