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Reading Breakfast Cereal Labels

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on July 18, 2013

It is important when reading cereal labels to focus on:

• Serving Size
• Fiber
• Calories
• Carbohydrate
• Sugar
• Fat

A serving size is generally 30 grams, 1 ounce, or ¾ cup. Depending on the cereal’s fluffiness and packaging, a portion size can vary from 1/3 to 2 cups. A typical portion sized for the average person is 1 ½ cups. Athletes generally consume 3 cups of cereal at a time.

Look for cereals that provide at least 4 grams of fiber per serving. Adults should be consuming between 25 grams fiber for women and 35 grams fiber. Children should consume a minimum of 15 grams fiber a day.

The sugar content of cereal is important when making a breakfast cereal choice.  First, look for the total carbohydrate content on the label and look below for the sugar in grams for each serving.  Divide the grams of sugar by 4 and this equals the amount of sugar in teaspoons in the cereal.

EXAMPLE:  If a portion of cereal has 12 grams sugar, divide this by 4 and the cereal has 3 teaspoons of sugar in 1 portion.

Dietitians and dentists suggest choosing cereals with fewer than 6 grams of sugar or 1 ½ teaspoons

sugar. Reduction of sugar intake is important because high sugar intake can increase child obesity and tooth decay.

There are over 40 breakfast cereals on the market that contain 6 grams of sugar or less. The United States government guidelines recommend that any cereal with more than 10% of calories in a serving from sugar is too high in sugar.

EXAMPLE:

A cereal with 160 calories should not contain more than 16 calories or one teaspoon sugar.

Fat content in one portion of cereal should not equal more than 5 grams of fat. Watch to see that saturated and trans fat contents of the cereal portion equal 0 grams.

When you are choosing a cereal bar follow these guidelines as well. Figure that the typical cereal bar is equal to 2 servings of cereal. The best way to figure the number of cereal servings exactly is to look at the grams of carbohydrate. If the cereal bar contains 15 grams of carbohydrate, count it as 1 serving of cereal. If it contains 30 grams of carbohydrate, count it as 2 servings of cereal.