franceinfo conso. Cereals and chocolate powder: nutritional quality is not always there

Just before noon on the weekend, you may be in the middle of brunch or, for those who have overslept a bit, maybe in the middle of breakfast. And it is this meal, the first of the day, which is discussed today in franceinfo conso, with Patricia Chairopoulos, journalist at the magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs. In its October issue, the magazine publishes a survey and a battery of tests on cereals of all kinds and powdered chocolates.

franceinfo: Why is breakfast such an important meal?

Patricia Chairopoulous: He breaks the nocturnal fast, he needs this morning refill of energy and sugar. Important especially for young children, and adolescents less so for adults. This morning energy and sugar boost is very important for growing children and adolescents; ideally, this meal should include quality cereals, a dairy product and preferably whole fruit. On the other hand, in active adults, breakfast is not essential, especially if you are not hungry when you get out of bed.

So not too rich, but still enough to last until lunch without snacking?

Exactly. Being satisfied with a thin slice of bread and a little jam, soaked in coffee or tea, makes it difficult to last until lunch. In addition, it disrupts blood sugar levels which drop in the middle of the morning… It is the famous 11 o'clock dip which encourages snacking, and moreover sweet foods.

We understand that you shouldn't have too much fat and especially not too much sugar. You are testing a total of 60 cereal and chocolate powder references. What is the overall verdict?

Nutritional quality is not always there, far from it. Industrial cereals, especially those with chocolate, are far too sweet. The same can be said for most chocolate powders. On the other hand, these breakfast products have the advantage of not overdoing fat, at least one good point…

As regards cereals, you distinguish cereals with chocolate from those with honey and fruit… But in each of these 3 categories there are good and bad students. You can't generalize...

Yes, and fortunately! That said, the family of chocolate cereals does not include very "good students", the best of the references being rated only 14.5/20 versus 18.5/20 for the best fruit cereals and 16.5/20 for those nature.

The big downside is sugar, especially for chocolate cereals which contain an average of 12.3 grams/50 gram portion of cereals: this is far too much, knowing that this represents a quarter of the recommended intake ( 50 g/day according to the WHO). As for plain or per-mile cereals, it's better, but there are also some references that cap at 18.5 g of sugars/portion, such as Kellogg's Frosties.

In terms of fiber, cereals with fruits prevail, just as they are generally less sweet than the others. But in each of the three families, there are products that provide more than 3g/portion of 50g of cereals, therefore "rich in fibre".

Similarly, a number of products do not contain additives, in particular plain cereals with cornflakes. Conversely, some brands of chocolate cereals and among the best known, abuse it: up to six additives in cereals filled with milk chocolate.

It is still possible to combine pleasure and health, are there products that provide both according to your panel?

Yes, especially with fruit cereals which, for some, have almost everything good in composition and nutrition and which can especially delight adults. For children, who are crazy about chocolate cereals, some references are acceptable even if it is better not to eat them every day in view of the quantities of sugar. Fans of corn flakes, or corn flakes, can find products very correct. But beware of the salt in certain references of this family!

It has been said for years or even decades that children's breakfast cereals are too sweet... Has there been any progress?

Small progress, because there are no regulations on this point and the commitments of manufacturers remain very moderate. We can cite Kellogg who, by the end of 2022, will remove at least 10% sugar and 20% salt from cereals intended for children in Europe. The brand is committed to ensuring that all of its cereal brands for children benefit from Nutri-Score A or B in France by the end of 2022. This is a minimum, and as we have seen in our test, several of the products Kellog's are very badly placed on the level of sugars.

And for powdered chocolates then.. where are we?

First, the name "chocolate powder" covers a wide range of cocoa contents, with 100% for the three pure cocoa powder references (Van Houten, Jolivia, Naturela) in our test. For the others, these levels range between 32% and 13% which concerns Ovaltine. Other iconic brands like Banania and Nesquik aren't much better.

Otherwise, like cereals, these products are too sweet! Despite the commitments of certain brands such as Nestlé, the sugar content remains very high. Thus, a 200 ml bowl provides an average of 20 grams of sugar: this represents 40% of the recommended intake. Some references such as Cora, Nestlé, Nature bio, Carrefour bio and Ethiquable even exceed 23 grams of sugar per bowl. However, they have the advantage of being neither greasy nor salty…

In your results we see that for unsweetened cocoa powder you still give a bad note for sugar? How to explain it? Is there still sugar in so-called unsweetened products?

We studied powders mixed with milk, since they are not consumed as such. As a result, it is milk sugar, that is to say lactose, which is a simple sugar, but much less problematic than the glucose or fructose present in sweet foods.

Overall, you think that the composition of these breakfast products, especially for children, is correct. It's not so bad !

Our analyzes show that some products do well, being without additives, not salty or greasy and not too loaded with sugars. Moreover, several references of cereals such as chocolate powders have a Nutri-Score of A or B. But the ideal is to vary the breakfasts, one day fruit or chocolate cereals, another a bowl of chocolate with milk with a slice of wholemeal bread, for example.