Health claims on cereal packets are 'misleading'

Health claims on cereal packets are ‘misleading’

Published on: July 27, 2018

Health claims on cereal packets are ‘misleading’: Sugar and calorie info is based on a serving that is three times smaller than that pictured on the box

Nutritional information showing sugar content is based on a small serving size
Box pictures show bigger portion than manufacturers’ recommended portion
Team from Cardiff University accused companies of ‘hoodwinking’ parents

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 01:30 BST, 27 July 2018 | Updated: 01:32 BST, 27 July 2018

Researchers say parents are being misled by health claims on boxes of children’s cereals

Researchers say parents are being misled by health claims on boxes of children’s cereals

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.