Bowl of cereal can be bad as eating chocolate biscuits

Eating a bowl of some breakfast cereals is equivalent to consuming a plate of chocolate-chip cookies, according to research questioning the "health-food" label that cereals are given.

A study published yesterday found that certain brands of cereal were so rich in saturated fats and sugar and so low in dietary fibre that they should be treated like cakes or biscuits.

Nutritionists from the Food Commission, a lobby group to promote healthy eating, carried out the study after concerns that consumers were eating some cereals in the belief that they must be good for their health when in fact their ingredients might actually contribute to heart disease, cancer and obesity.

They found that Quaker's Harvest Crunch with red berries contained the highest levels of saturated fat, with 6g in a 50g bowl. It also contains about 13g of sugar, 9g of fat and only 2g of fibre.

Sainsbury's brand of chocolate-chip cookies had the same amount of saturated fat and fibre, slightly more fat but less sugar than Harvest Crunch.

The Food Commission said that 10 cereals included in the study were so rich in fats and sugar that they should really be sold alongside cakes.

Tesco Choc and Nut Crisp was one of a number containing just 2g of fibre per bowl, 2g less than a slice of Marks & Spencer carrot cake.

A Tesco spokesman said: "We offer customer choice and label cereals with nutritional information so they can make an informed choice."

A spokesman for Quaker, the makers of Harvest Crunch cereal, said that the company could not comment on the findings until it had seen the published study.