Adopting traffic lights would make 75 per cent of breakfast cereals carry red warning labels

[watervole]

A scheme to give clearer health guidelines on foods (red = unhealthy, amber = middling, green = healthy) has been set back yet again after major political pressure from food manufacturers.

Just in case you want to know, the only breakfast cereals I'm aware of that don't contain added sugar are Grape Nuts, Dorset Cereals muesli and Shredded Wheat.  Almost all other brands of muesli now contain either sugar or crystallised fruit (which appear to be a handy way of adding sugar without showing it on the ingredients list).

Comments

Icon Love!

[telynor.livejournal.com]

I just had to say it. What a perfect icon. :-)

Re: Icon Love!

[cu-sith.livejournal.com]

I cannot resist performing a small happydance and saying that it's one of my badge designs.

[jon-a-five.livejournal.com]

Personally I prefer the RDA table on my food. Just a 'red light' gives no indication of how much is bad for you.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I like RDAs myself, but most people can't take in that level of detail.

The research shows that the majority find traffic lights easier to follow. And they work fine as a ratio of what you're eating.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I think nowhere they would dare to give a truthful guidline...sad.
I like your great icon - how appropriate!:-)

[sammason.livejournal.com]

I've come to believe that the marketing of 'cereal' as a food in the late 20th century is largely to blame for the rise in obesity, particularly central obesity (around the waist). High GI foods such as 'cereal' are not a good choice for breakfast unless you're about to do a day of manual labour and you eat protein as well as grains. It took me years to realise that my rebound hunger, 2 hours after a cereal breakfast, meant that I should be eating eggs instead. The marketing about 'high-fibre, keeps you feeling full until lunch' is so strong but in my experience, it's crap. It's slightly worse if the cereal has a high sugar content, but it still happens if I start the day with Dorset Cereals muesli. That is, it *would* still happen. It doesn't get the chance any more. I 'go to work on an egg' with a small portion of low-GI carbs, and I really do feel full until lunch. For me, Dorset cereals muesli is a bedtime snack to raise my blood sugar and make me sleep.

Returning to your thread ;-S I agree that 'traffic lights' are a good way t label foods. Maybe it's time the consumers noticed just how unhealthy 'cereals' are, including the 'healthy' ones.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on high GI cereals, though muesli is relatively low GI.

I get really cross about 'healthy' claims on cereal. I remember when Frosties pulled a marketing campaign that took in many of my friends. I went and looked at the small print on the packet and worked out that it was still horrendously high in sugar.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

That Frosties story is really shocking. I hadn't heard it before. What's so shocking is that this is one of the sugary cereals marketed at children. How are they supposed to grow healthily and learn well at school, when malnourished?

I think there's more to feeling full than just GI, although that's clearly important. The lab I work in now isn't endocrinology, so I no longer have colleagues to ask about this. But my own observation is that protein is key. Sticking my neck out here, but I read an article suggesting that vegetarians tend to be carb-addicted, because they eat carbs when their bodies ask for protein. My own eating habits grew from vegetarianism (even after I returned to eating meat) and from student life (cheap stodge). I'm 42 now, despite my userpic (everybody tells me I look young). It was quite recently that I learned to distinguish protein-hunger from carb-hunger, with excellent results for my blood sugar.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

protein is an important part of making people feel full, and there's research to back that.

My usual philosophy is to avoid all added sugar and eat a varied diet high in fruit and veg. I've never had to diet in my life, so I guess it works.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

When I was riding 11 miles to work I'd eat a banana in the morning and nothing else. Mind you, I was ravenous an hour after getting there. :-)

[sammason.livejournal.com]

I bet you were! 11 miles is a long ride, whether you mean bike ride or horse ride. I'm jealous as I have happy memories of a similar bike-ride to work that I used to love, but now I'm disabled :-( Anyway I hope you're eating high-protein breakfasts now!

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Bicycle.

I think the distance was critical. Much further, and I'd have ended up riding with the bonk, and had to eat properly before setting off.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

I am deeply distrustful of marketing attempts to define health however something is better than nothing and some compromise between simplicity and accurate information would be best so I like the stop sign concept.

It would never work here, though, since the food lobby would kill the idea.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Porridge is the Answer. Until, like me, you put honey on it... well, only a little bit. And I had toast and marmalade this morning.

Mr Kellog has a lot to answer for.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit fan of porridge, especially in the winter. Skip the honey, but add dried fruit. If you mix in sultans while it's cooking, they plump up beautifully.

[rgemini.livejournal.com]

I thought I was the only one who did this! For a real treat, sprinkle a few flaked almonds on top too.

[camies.livejournal.com]

It's Dorset Cereals for me then! Shredded Wheat always tasted like I was eating the packet instead.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Adding dried currants or fresh raspberries makes Shredded Wheat edible, but I don't eat it very often.

Dorset Cereals are my usual option.

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

The amount of sugar in cereal is ridiculous, I'm an invetarate label reader but only after I became diabetic and found myself with a sugar spike after cornflakes did I realise just how much extra sugar all these things have (how can they market bran flakes as healthy when they've more sugar than rice krispies?!).

I'm not sure any of these simplified food label thing are going to be useful though, they're too simplistic: the current supermarket ones that are like segments with red highlights for bad stuff have hummus marked bright red because of the fat content, because they're doing overall fat instead of saturated fat, so the nice healthy olive oil gets flagged up as evil, avoid avoid.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I'm a great fan of Dorset Cereals mueslis, and usually have a couple of different boxes on the go.