Looking back on my childhood, I grew up eating a lot of sugary foods for breakfast. From Pop Tarts to Toaster Strudel to Corn Pops, sugar was a big part of the most important meal of the day for me. Of course, at the time, my mom was just happy that I was eating any kind of breakfast before running out the door to school, but now we know so much more about proper nutrition that it’s about time some of the major food manufacturers took at look at cereal’s sugar content. Especially cereals that are obviously targeted to children.
Late last year, General Mills reduced the amount of sugar in its popular cereals Lucky Charms, Trix and Cocoa Puffs. According to The Associated Press, PepsiCo Inc. also launched a new instant oatmeal with 25 percent less sugar. Now you can add another big food manufacturer to the list of reduced-sugar breakfast foods: Post Foods. The company recently told The Associated Press that it will cut the sugar content of its Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles per serving from 11 grams to 9 grams. According to the report, this is in an attempt by all food companies to address consumers’ concerns at the growing childhood obesity epidemic.
While I commend the effort to reduce sugar, it still feels like food companies could be doing more. Sure these sugary cereals will have less sugar, but they still have quite a bit even at the reduced rate, especially when you consider that very few adults or children are probably only eating one serving of cereal each morning. Not to mention that these cereals are highly processed and don’t actually include much fiber or protein, which helps fill your belly up- whether you’re a kid or not.
What do you think about food manufacturers reducing the sugar content in cereal? Do you think this can help reverse childhood obesity?
image via nutritiondietnews.com