Are 30% sugar cereal bars really a substitute for breakfast?

My daughter’s school has a healthy eating policy but allows these kind of bars in lunchoboxes. I have been saying for some time that these bars are no better than a chocolate biscuit type snack but have not been listened to. I shall now show the school this!

I’m a big fan of Carmans muesli bars that some Sainsburys stock.

Thank you to which as I eat cereal bars every day as I have breakfast at my desk and I want something easy to eat and healthy. Some of them are sickly sweet so I eat Jordan’s almond and honey ( cheap) or great myself to 9 bar which I was shocked to read is high in salt and fat because it doesn’t taste that way. Nakd bars are way too expensive. Someone please suggest a cheap but healthy alternative that is practical to eat at a desk. Thanks!

My child’s school is strick at what we can put in lunch boxes but they do allow these bars. We’ve started to eat the nature valley bars, which are nice, are these just as bad for you? I think if these are so bad for you they shouldn’t be sponsors for sports, like the Olympics!

Don’t think elevenses has ever been marketed as a breakfast or a healthy snack but they are great for an energy boost on the hills.

I used to eat these bars but eventually realised how much sugar and fat I was eating, especially if I finished the box. 🙂

The most worrying thing is that seven of the products in your survey are described as “children’s bars” and might be a potential source of life-long sugar addiction.

Some years ago Waitrose had a range called “Food Explorers” aimed as children which was sold under large print claims of “controlled sugar” in shelf front advertising but with small print labels showing that some items were 2/3 rd sugar.

That range was eventually withdrawn but a responsible sugar commitment is still needed. Let’s name and shame both producers and sellers.

It looks as if there might be a market for muesli bars that don’t contain a lot of sugar or fat. I assume that sugar syrup is used to keep the bars in one piece but there must be a better way.

I hope the manufacturer of the bars containing no added sugar does not proclaim this on their advertising when their product contains more sugar than many of the ones with added sugar.

I like Alpen bars, very sweet, but never fill me up.

I’ve tried the less sugary ones but they taste very dry and bland. Back to the sausages then

Just goes to show that until the Government gets tough with food producers about labelling (i.e. actually GOVERNS!) we will all have to carry on reading the small print. I’m not holding my breath …

try Stoats Porrige Bars – we got them at Conwy Feast a few years ago, you can buy online.

Try stoats porrige bars. We found them at Conwy Feast a few years ago, nice and oaty, not too sweet.

My wife and I are keen cyclists and as such often need to carry convenient forms of instant nutrition which we can keep in our pockets. We are both very ingredient conscious and suspicious of supermarket products and the transparent claims made by food manufacturers so we make our own muesli / snack bars which are easy to make, using known ingredients. The cost of course, is much more favourable to those bars you buy in shops. There are a variety of recipes on the internet or just make your own to suit your tastes. Well recommended !!!

I’m absolutely appalled to find that I have been giving my child sugar and fat laden breakfast bars as a bedtime snack!! I was particularly shocked at the content of the All Bran breakfast biscuits, which don’t taste particularly sweet. I’m now going to make my own HEALTHY bars.

I now only eat the Nakd bars since they are wholly natural ingredients, with no sugar added.

These are naturally quite expensive and I have only seen them in Tescos and Sainsburys. However if eaten slowly they are filling and very tasty-there are about 5 or 6 varieties. Well worth a try especially if you are trying to reduce your processed sugar intake!

I too like the Naked bars although they are expensive. I also like the fruitus bars by Lyme Regis foods (from Sainsbury) – not on your list .

If I am out an about I need any energy boost when I start feeling faint – these have to be preferable to buying a Mars bar, I just have to remember to take one.

As a Traidcraft supporter I was sorry not to see their Geobars in the evaluation of cereal bars. When they were first made (?10 years ago) a public health doctor commented that they were healthier than the others then available, but the recipes have changed since. They are sold in supermarkets as well as direct from Traidcraft, and have the advantage of using Fairtrade ingredients.

I only eat the very occasional Eat Natural Bar, not because I think it’s especially healthy but because I like them. But what’s wrong with a banana as a healthy snack?. No additives, an energy power pack which can be eaten/carried anywhere

I’m amazed that any of these snack bars should even be tested by Which? for “healthy” aspects. I’ve always considered these as “puddings/cakes” and rationed my intake accordingly. Anything labelled as an energy bar MUST have high energy ingredients, such as fats and sugars, both in standard format and as fruits and nuts. These were never intended as everyday lunchbox snacks.

By now we should all be aware that we need to read the labels and should not be surprised by this Which? report.

As an Australian living in the UK I am desperate to find decent muesli bars here, everything is full of chocolate or so sweet they make my teeth hurt! Some Sainsburys do stock Carmen’s bars (Australian brand) – these are amazing but you have to hunt for them. If you can get your hands on them – do! (Fruit are the best, Apricot & Almond a close second!)