Secrets of Cereal Selection

by Leah McGrath, RD, LDN, Corporate Dietitian – Ingles Supermarkets

You’re shopping at your Ingles Market and you turn the corner and find yourself on the cereal aisle and are faced with a stunning number of options: whole grain, oats, added fiber, extra protein, gluten-free. How do you decide which are the best choices for you and your family? Here’s my step-by-step guide.

Fiber First

Turn the package so you can see the Nutrition Facts panel. You want a cereal with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving, preferably more. One of the main reasons we eat cereal for breakfast is for the digestive benefit of the fiber.

Sugar Shock

Still looking at that Nutrition Facts panel? Make sure the grams of sugar per serving is less than 10 grams. Those grams of sugar are seldom naturally occurring sugar but are added to sweeten things up – just check the list of ingredients.

Serving Sense

Now check the Serving Size on the Nutrition Facts panel. Is it realistic? The serving size for cereals can vary widely, some as little as 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup, especially for granola, and some 1 cup or more. If you are comparing two cereals make sure the servings sizes are equal.

Total Calories

How many calories are there per serving?

Calculate Cost

Now that you know the serving size, calculate the cost per serving size. You can do this by dividing the cost of the cereal by the number of suggested servings on the Nutrition Facts panel or look at the unit price on the shelf tag. Cost per serving can range from 20 cents to over 50 cents per serving.

Some other helpful items:

Sodium – cereals can be a sneaky source of sodium. If the cereal you’re looking at has more than 140mg of sodium – put it back.

Protein – added protein from soy or nuts can help you feel more satisfied. Most cereals have 2 to 3 grams of protein per serving, higher protein cereals would have 7 to 10 grams per serving.

Fat – some cereals, particularly granola, can be surprisingly high in fat so the total calories will be higher.

You’ll notice that I didn’t say “read the front of the package.” The Nutrition Facts panel tells the real story about your cereal, not what the manufacturer says to try to attract you to buy it!

Source: inglesnutrition.blogspot.com