Wendyl wants to know: Good as a biscuit, but not the best way to start your day

Belvita Breakfast - Cranberry and 5 Wholegrains - $3.99 for 6 packs of 4.

Belvita Breakfast Cranberry and 5 Wholegrains - $3.99 for 6 packs of 4

Breakfast continues to be a bit of a drama for many people who find it hard to make the time to eat what many health professionals regard as the most important meal of the day.

These breakfast bars are designed to provide you with a breakfast alternative - although it does recommend on its packaging to also eat them with yoghurt, fruit and a cup of tea or coffee to provide calcium and vitamins.

In Britain, Which?, a consumer watchdog, has found that breakfast biscuits contain more sugar, fat and calories than cereals while adding no nutritional benefits.

• Cereals (70%) - (Wheat flour 25%, wholegrain cereals 45%, oat flakes 22%, malted rye flakes 20%, wholegrain wheat flour 1%, wholegrain spelt flour 1%, wholegrain barley flour 1%)

This is an impressive array of cereals and together they provide a good level of fibre at 2.9g per serving of four biscuits.

• Sugar - The sugar in here is not extreme. Per serve of four biscuits you will get 9.6g, or just over two teaspoons. Compared to some breakfast cereals which can have as much as three to four teaspoons of sugar per serve, this is mild. By comparison, though, two Weet-Bix will give you just 0.8g of sugar.

• Vegetable oils - Not sure what these oils are. You will get 6.9g of fat per serve which is 13.7 per cent. Two Weet-Bix without milk will give you 0.4g and with reduced fat milk will give you 2.3g.

• Sweetened dried cranberries 7.5% - (Sugar, cranberry pieces 33%), humectant (glycerol) food acid (330), sunflower oil)

These are cranberries which have been dried and sweetened. The food acid used is citric acid (330).

• Invert sugar - This is sugar which has been treated to split into glucose and fructose which is sweeter than sugar and when used in processed foods remains more moist and less prone to crystallisation.

• Raising agents (500, 503,339) - These are baking soda (500), ammonium carbonates (503) and sodium phosphates (339).

Skim milk powder - This will be in here for flavour and texture.

• Salt - Not too high in salt. You will get 150mg of sodium per serve.

• Emulsifiers (472e, soy lecithin) - These are fatty acid esters of glycerol and soy lecithin, oth natural products.

My recommendations

There isn't too much wrong with these ... if you want to eat a biscuit. By all means sit down with a cup of coffee and have a couple of these for morning tea or afternoon tea. But not for breakfast. If you have all four you will get about 200 calories.

As a breakfast food, I think they are too high in sugar and fat to really give you the healthy start you need.

Instead go for Weet-Bix, which are very low in fat and sugar, or make yourself some good old porridge. Team them with yoghurt and fruit and you have yourself a very healthy breakfast indeed.

And if you are in a hurry, grab a glass of milk and a banana.

Highlights

• More a biscuit than a breakfast food.
• No added colours or preservatives.
• Two teaspoons of sugar and 6.9g of fat per serve.

Read Wendyl's other columns on other food products here.