Children’s and non-children’s breakfast cereals on the German market
- 28.07.2025
- English Articles
- Anna Dittmann
- David Wolff
- Hanna Haidar
- Benedikt Merz
- Silvia Roser
- Corinna Gréa
- Stefan Storcksdieck genannt Bonsmann
Peer reviewed / Manuscript (original) submitted: 25 October 2024; revision accepted: 20 December 2024
Differences in energy and nutrient content and Nutri-Score
Introduction
A balanced breakfast makes an important contribution to daily nutrient intake [1]. Breakfast cereals are popular among consumers in Germany; the customer reach1 for this product group is around 61% [2]. The variety of breakfast cereals is large and covers mueslis, cornflakes, and other cereal products [3]. By comparison, many of the products are targeted at children and adolescents (children’s breakfast cereals). In addition to the German monitoring of packaged foods of the Max Rubner-Institut (MRI), several other surveys for the German market between 2013 and 2023 [4–7] show that these products, in particular, are high in sugar. According to the 2023 Nutrient Profile Model of the World Health Organization (WHO), which provides guidance for decision-makers to assess whether products are suitable to be marketed towards children, breakfast cereals should not contain more than 12.5 g of sugar per 100 g [8].
As part of the National Reduction and Innovation Strategy (NRI) adopted by the German government in 2018, a voluntary commitment for the reduction of the sugar content of children’s breakfast cereals was agreed upon by the trade association of the Cereal Processing, Milling, and Starch Industry (VGMS). The commitment is to reduce mean sugar content in these products by at least 20% by 2025 [9]. To accompany the NRI, the MRI carries out an annual product monitoring to examine the energy and nutrient contents of selected product groups. The survey from 2022 provides current data on breakfast cereals [2]. Its focus lay on the contents of energy, fat, saturated fat, and sugar at the level of the overall product group and also for subgroups, including subgroups for children’s breakfast cereals, as well as their changes over time. In addition to these analyses, the present study compares children’s and non-children’s breakfast cereals from the subcategories muesli, flakes as well as other cereal products for the year 2022. For this purpose, significant differences in the energy and nutrient contents are examined and the nutrient composition is assessed using the Nutri-Score. ...
Abstract
In 2022, breakfast cereals were surveyed for the third time as part of the German product monitoring of packaged food which is in the scope of the National Reduction and Innovation Strategy for sugar, fats, and salt in processed foods. The declared energy and nutrient contents were compared for children’s and non-children’s breakfast cereals at the overall level and for mueslis, flakes, and other breakfast cereals. Additionally, the Nutri-Score was calculated for all products. Non-children’s breakfast cereals (85%) were predominantly mueslis, while children’s breakfast cereals were mainly other cereal products in addition to mueslis. By proportion, more products among children’s breakfast cereals had a Nutri-Score of C–E than among non-children’s breakfast cereals. At the same time, children’s breakfast cereals had a significantly higher mean sugar content (17.1 g/100 g vs. 14.3 g/100 g), but a lower fat content (7.2 g/100 g vs. 11.4 g/100 g). The results suggest that there is further potential for reformulation, especially for children’s breakfast cereals.
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1 The customer reach describes the share of households that bought products from a specific product group at least once within a year.
