Top 10 Worst Children’s Cereals on the Market

The over-consumption of sugar has long been one of the top problems our society faces on a health and wellness level. Excessive sugar consumption is known to play a part in most of the health complications people in developed countries face today. This is especially true when the most carcinogenic sugars like high fructose corn syrup are used. While high fructose corn syrup and other sugars are largely present in sweets and soda, a new report has found that cereals — particularly marketed towards kids — are often tainted with large amounts of sugar as well. In fact, sugar is so rampant in cereals that the Environmental Working Group has created a list of the 10 worst children’s cereals.

Children’s Cereals with the Most Sugar

Kellogg’s Honey Smacks – 55.6%

Post Golden Crisp  – 51.9%

Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow –  48.3%

Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch OOPS! All Berries  – 46.9%

Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch original – 44.4%

Quaker Oats Oh!s – 44.4%

Kellogg’s Smorz – 43.3%

Kellogg’s Apple Jacks – 42.9%

Quaker Oats Cap’n Cunch’s Crunch Berries – 42.3%

Kellogg’s Froot Loops original – 41.4%

(Percent sugar by weight)

“Cereal companies have spent fortunes on convincing parents that a kid’s breakfast means cereal, and that sugary cereals are fun, benign, and all kids will eat. The cereals on the EWG highest-sugar list are among the most profitable for their makers, who back up their investment with advertising budgets of $20 million a year or more. No public health agency has anywhere near the education budget equivalent to that spent on a single cereal. Kids should not be eating sugar for breakfast. They should be eating real food”, said Marion Nestle, an NYU professor.

The data comes from 84 different cereals which the EWG tested. Excess sugar was not the only problem that EWG found with many of the cereals; 10 cereals had over 210 milligrams of sodium and more than 26 cereals were not predominantly whole grain. Interestingly enough, the group also found that one cup of either Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp, and General Mills Wheaties contains more sugar than a Twinkie. Similarly, one cup of 44 of the cereals tested, including Honey Nut Cheerios, Apples Jacks, and Cap’n Crunch, contains more sugar than 3 Chips Ahoy cookies.

Carcinogenic sugars are rampant among the food supply. Fructose, a staple in the diet of many Americans, is continually being pegged by scientific research as a significant player in the development and spread of cancer. Furthermore, a growing number of studies are finding fructose, and the processed foods in which it is contained, to be as addictive as cocaine.

It is for this reason that sugar should be avoided whenever possible. The first step to avoiding sugar is to read food labels. Aiming for organic food and natural food will also help profoundly with sugar reduction and increasing the quality of your overall health. Be on the lookout for deceptive cereals, though, as many of them have been found to contain GMOs and pesticides.