Tag Archives: Ceri Roberts

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For years I doubted the soundness of the many breakfast cereals sold in the supermarket. When I was offered a choice of several breakfast cereals, in flakes and in biscuits, at Charing Cross Hospital for breakfast in 1978, I assumed that surely they must be healthy food if they were also sold in a hospital.

Presumably, several breakfast cereals have passed the revue at your table.
What is certain is that among the large number on offer there are also many less healthy cereals, especially those containing far too much sugar and salt.

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Since that hospitalisation, the wheat biscuits Weetabix, Muesli, Oats, and All Bran have become part of my eating habits for a long time. All Bran has since fallen off because of its too-high salt content.

As human food, cereals are usually marketed in their raw grain form (some are frozen or canned) or as ingredients of various food products.

Originally Australian-New Zealand (Weet-Bix), for me Weetabix has the British touch.

In the 1980s and 1990s, manufacturers looked more at young people and touted the biscuit as a fortifying food.

Unlike the “fun” cereals loaded with chocolate and sugar, Weetabix always seemed reassuringly bland. Marketed as “good food you can trust”, surely something that looks and tastes this wholesome has to be good for you?

But the recent focus on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) has raised questions about how healthy Weetabix really is. After all, it’s tricky – but not impossible – to make your own wheat biscuits at home, as they are a (minimally) processed food.

Weetabix Crispy Minis (fruit & nut variety) with dessert spoon for scale.

To make matters more confusing, you can now choose from several different types of Weetabix, designed to cater for all tastes and dietary preferences: from high protein and organic recipes, to crispy flakes, minis with added fruit and nuts, and even chocolate flavour biscuits. The one thing they all have in common is a tendency to turn to cement if you forget to rinse your bowl. This is due to the high starch content, which turns Weetabix into an adhesive paste when mixed with water, similar to the process used to make paper. Although that doesn’t sound very appetising, there’s no need to worry about the same thing happening in your digestive system.

“Despite its relatively straightforward ingredients list, Weetabix falls into the category [of UPFs] due to the presence of added sugars and certain processed ingredients like malted barley extract. However, not all UPFs are created equal. For instance, original Weetabix varieties provide a good source of whole grains, fibre, and essential vitamins and minerals, which contribute positively to a balanced diet. This distinction highlights why we shouldn’t label all UPFs as unhealthy.”

says Rhiannon Lambert, a registered nutritionist, author of The Science of Plant Based Nutrition and founder of Rhitrition and Rhitrition Plus clinic

Are Weetabix actually healthy?

Marcus Ampe & Ceri Roberts