Photo by: EWG.org

EWG.org just released their list of Best and Worst cereals and I thought it was worthy of checking out. Remember folks, neither you nor your children need to start each day with what amounts to a pile of frosting. Crappy cereals to nothing to boost energy or increase brain function, and quite frankly … are just plain unhealthy. If you love that fancy body of yours and care about your children more than they love marshmallows, take a look and consider an upgrade if one appears necessary. EWG says “Popular brands pack more sugar than snack cakes and cookies. Parents have good reason to worry about the sugar content of children’s breakfast cereals, according to an Environmental Working Group review of 84 popular brands. Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, at nearly 56 percent sugar by weight, leads the list of high-sugar cereals, according to EWG’s analysis. A one-cup serving of Honey Smacks packs more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie, and one cup of any of 44 other children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.”The following information was pulled directly from EWG.org.

10 Worst Children’s Cereals

Based on percent sugar by weight

1	Kellogg’s Honey Smacks	55.6%
2	Post Golden Crisp	51.9%
3	Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow	48.3%
4	Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries	46.9%
5	Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original	44.4%
6	Quaker Oats Oh!s	44.4%
7	Kellogg’s Smorz	43.3%
8	Kellogg’s Apple Jacks	42.9%
9	Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries	42.3%
10	Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original	41.4%

Cereals: Best and Good: All cereals on this list pass proposed federal guidelines* on sugar, sodium, fat and whole-grain content. They are free of artificial flavors, colors and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose.

Best Cereals: These cereals are also free of pesticides and genetically modified ingredients.

Ambrosial Granola: Athenian Harvest Muesli
Go Raw: Live Granola, Live Chocolate Granola, and Simple Granola
Grandy Oats: Mainely Maple Granola, Cashew Raisin Granola, and Swiss Style Muesli
Kaia Foods: Buckwheat Granola Dates & Spices and Buckwheat Granola Raisin Cinnamon
Laughing Giraffe: Cranberry Orange Granola
Lydia’s Organics: Apricot Sun, Berry Good, Grainless Apple, Sprouted Cinnamon, and Vanilla Crunch.
Nature’s Path Organic: Optimum Banana Almond, Optimum Cranberry Ginger, Corn Puffs, Kamut Puffs, Millet Puffs, and Rice Puffs.

6 Good Big-Brand Children’s Cereals: These cereals are easier to find but may include ingredients that are genetically modified or grown with pesticides.

Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats: Unfrosted Bite- Size, Frosted Big Bite, Frosted Bite-Size, Frosted Little Bite
General Mills Cheerios Original
General Mills Kix Original

Other Alternatives: While not considered children’s cereals, these are good options for the breakfast table. They may contain genetically modified grains and ingredients grown with pesticides.

Post Shredded Wheat (all varieties)
Post Grape-Nuts Flakes
Quaker Oats Oatmeal Squares Cinnamon
Post Bran Flakes
Post Honey Bunches of Oats with Vanilla Bunches

Some cereals are better than others. When selecting cereals, nutrition expert Marion Nestle recommends parents look for:

Cereals with a short ingredient list (added vitamins and minerals are okay).
Cereals high in fiber.
Cereals with few or no added sugars, including honey, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, brown sugar, corn sweetener, sucrose, lactose, glucose, high- fructose corn syrup and malt syrup (USDA 2006a).

Cereals that meet these criteria can usually be found on the top shelves of the cereal aisle. They are harder to reach and not at eye level but often less expensive (Nestle 2006).