Health claims on cereals ‘misleading’

PARENTS are being misled by health claims on boxes of children’s cereals, say researchers.

Nutritional information showing how much sugar and calories they contain is based on a small serving size. But the pictures on most boxes display a serving that is on average three times bigger than the manufacturers’ own recommended portion, according to a team from Cardiff University.

They accused companies of ‘hoodwinking’ parents into thinking a portion of cereal contained less sugar and fat. Nine of the 13 products they studied depicted a bowl ‘brimming with cereal and milk’ that would require three times the 30g recommended serving and 375ml of milk, which equates to 31.5g of added sugars.

The researchers, writing in the British Dental Journal, found that if children aged four to six ate the volumes depicted on the average cereal box they would exceed their daily sugar allowance by 12.5 per cent on a single bowl alone.