Halloween may be over, but the horrors in your pantry persist.
While cereal is a quick and convenient breakfast option, it’s important to pay attention to key nutritional details like fiber and sugar content.
However, some important information may be missing from the label, including hidden toxins in beloved brands, even those marketed as “natural.”
Perhaps it’s no surprise that children’s cereals are becoming less and less healthy.
In addition to containing more fat, sugar and sodium, many also contain harmful chemicals disguised as “healthier” ingredients.
The nonprofit Clean Label Project independently tested 77 cereal brands, including both sugary staples and seemingly more nutritious options.
If you’re addicted to cocoa, you may want to consider another option. Cereals made from cocoa, chocolate or cocoa contained more than twice as much lead as those that did not.
The type of grain used also matters. Rice cereals contained 12 times more arsenic than other cereals. Those made from wheat or oats contained 2.5 times more acrylamide than options made from rice or corn.
Although the health risks acrylamide poses to humans are not entirely clear, high doses cause cancer in animals.
Glyphosate, a herbicide used to destroy weeds, was also found in large quantities in the products tested, with just four grains accounting for 81% of the total concentration.
And while chlormequat has already been found in cereal, prompting EPA investigations into two household brands, it’s not the only pesticide hidden in cereal boxes.
Additionally, methoxyfenozide, acetamiprid, and metalaxyl were all detected, as these pesticides are all commonly used on grain crops.
Ironically, cereals high in added sugar and processed ingredients had lower levels of contaminants.
These less nutritious options may contain fewer toxins, as plant-based ingredients naturally carry a higher risk of contaminants such as heavy metals from soil and pesticides used in agriculture.
The good news is that no bisphenol A – better known as the harmful chemical BPA – or bisphenol S (BPS) was found in any of the cereals tested, an improvement over testing the group conducted in 2018.
Although the Clean Label Project didn’t list the most offending cereals, they found four brands that met most of their criteria for ingredient quality and nutritional value.
These included Arrowhead Mills Puffed Kamut, Lovebird Cinnamon O’s, Love Grown Power O’s and Three Wishes Cinnamon.
However, just because a cereal is low in contaminants doesn’t automatically mean it’s a healthy choice.
Likewise, a grain that contains good amounts of fiber, protein or other nutrients may also contain higher levels of pesticides, heavy metals and other toxins.
Gn Health
