While Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer and Hugh Grant got the spotlight, the sweet breakfast foods of the 1960s are arguably the real stars of the recent film “Not frosted”, a comedy loosely based on the invention of Pop-Tarts.
Additionally, many of the breakfast items from the film are still familiar to the general public. As a kid, I also enjoyed some of the sugary cereals featured in “Unfrosted” and I also ate Pop-Tarts.
In fact, I still have a box or two of this cereal at home, even though I’m already an adult and working as a Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics.
There are reasons why these foods are so popular – and why the cereal aisle at your local grocery store looks a lot like it did decades ago. Their sweet taste, simple ingredients, and powerful marketing featuring memorable cartoon mascots still resonate with us, even after we’ve grown up. It’s no wonder the cereal industry’s projected revenues in 2024 are 22.5 billion US dollars for US only and worldwide revenues should increase from $81.6 billion in 2024 to $139 billion in 2033.
The Sweet Lure of Sugary Cereals
In a landmark 2006 study, researchers gave rats a choice between saccharin-sweetened water or cocaine. Ninety-four percent of the rats preferred saccharin. And that included a group of rats addicted to cocaine – 100% of them chose saccharin.
Technically, however, the softness is not considered addictive. Humans have rather a innate and universal preference for sweet tastes – especially children, who tend to prefer sweeter foods than adults.
But that’s not all that makes them so appealing. Since the days of “Unfrosted,” marketing campaigns for breakfast products have been hugely successful.
Most Americans are familiar with the Snap, Crackle and Pop kids, Tony the Tiger, Lucky Charms the elf, Trix the rabbit, Toucan Sam from Froot Loops and dozens of others.
More recently, millions of people watched the first edible sports mascot – a giant Pop-Tart – being devoured by the winners of the Bowl of Pop Tartswhich will be held in December 2023.
The commercial success of these foods, however, is not necessarily linked to their nutritional quality.
Added sugar is the bad guy
Although the sugar content of sweetened breakfast cereals has decreased by 45.9% of the weight in 1985, many cereals are still today contain a lot of sugarwith more than 30% of their weight from sugar.
The next time you’re in the cereal aisle, take a few minutes to look at the sugar content of your favorite brands, especially the ones you loved as a kid. Many of these cereals have 10 to 14 grams of “added sugar” per serving, and some have more. Some types of frozen Pop-Tarts have as much as 100 grams. 30 grams of added sugar per servingwhich are two Pop-Tarts pastries.
Added sugars are empty calories; they are added to the product during the manufacturing process to make it taste better. This is in contrast to naturally occurring sugars, such as those found in fruits or other whole foods that provide nutrients. Dietary Recommendations for Americanspublished by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states that added sugar intake should not exceed 10% of your total calories. The World Health Organization recommends even less added sugar – only 5% of calories.
Let’s say you eat 2,000 calories a day. Ten percent of that total is 200 calories. One gram of sugar provides 4 calories. According to U.S. guidelines, that means you should eat no more than 50 grams of added sugar a day. Eat a serving of cereal with 14 grams of sugar, and you’ll have nearly reached 30 percent of your daily limit. Or follow the World Health Organization’s recommendations: 5 percent of a 2,000-calorie diet is 25 grams a day, and you’ll have reached more than half your daily limit.
That said, the less added sugar you eat, the better. Zero is even better.
The science of sugar
THE glycemic index shows how much a particular food affects blood sugar. Foods with high values raise blood sugar more than foods with low values.
A food with a glycemic index of less than 55 is low; a food with a high glycemic index of more than 70. Pure glucose, a simple sugar, has a maximum glycemic index value of 100.
Although many cereals contain high amounts of added sugar, some also contain a good amount of fiber — and fiber lowers blood sugar. But even with that fiber content, most sugary cereals have a value of 70 or more.
Other breakfast foods, like plain Greek yogurt and bananas, have values around 35 and 55 respectively, making them low on the glycemic index.
Health effects
Foods high in simple carbohydrates and high on the glycemic index, such as sugary cereals, lead to higher blood lipid levels, increased hunger and a greater amount of insulin released. These are all factors that promote the development of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
This happens due to high blood sugar levels increases blood pressure. It also increases the formation of advanced glycation end productswhich are molecules formed from sugars that can stiffen blood vessels and increase inflammation.
If added sugar intake exceeds 13% of total calories — on a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s 260 calories, or 65 grams of added sugar per day — it increases your risk of 39% of people die from cardiovascular diseaseAnd that’s just one bowl of sugary cereal on top of the 50 grams the USDA considers the acceptable limit.
Conversely, low glycemic index diets are linked to improved markers blood sugar, blood lipids and body weight reduction.
Reduce sugar consumption
A good place to start when trying to cut down on sugar is to read the Nutrition Facts label on the food package, which lists added sugar content.
Added sugars can also be found on the ingredients listoften labeled as glucose, fructose, maltose, or sucrose. They may also appear as other food ingredients, such as molasses, honey, jam, concentrated juice, or syrup. They may also be listed simply as sugar.
It is also essential to recognize the differences between portion sizes and actual serving size. Serving size is what described on the nutrition facts label; serving size is the amount you actually serve yourself.
Especially when it comes to breakfast cereals, people consistently serve themselves more than the recommended serving size, which means you’re consuming more sugar than you think. People who freely poured cereal from a box into a bowl overestimated portions nine out of ten types of cereal, except for one type of cereal that is already portioned out. I am guilty of this because at home I fill my bowls to the top.
The amount served in excess varied from one-sixth of an extra portion to more than a full portion, resulting in 0.5 to 7 grams of additional sugar.
One solution to this problem is to choose smaller bowls and spoons. It’s a clever little trick, and research shows it really worksAnother way is to measure the serving size with a measuring cup.
Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is studying ways to regulate ultra-processed foods. Typically, these are foods that contain many ingredients formulated using industrial techniquesUltra-processed foods include sugary foods, such as many breakfast cereals.
It is possible that the FDA will require mandatory reductions in added sugar content, similar to the current voluntary reductions advocated by the National initiative to reduce salt and sugar consumptionwhich aims to reduce the average percentage by weight of sugar content in cereals by just over 5% by 2026.
But those cuts may take time to come. It took the FDA more than three years to Ban partially hydrogenated oils in food manufacturing after they are no longer considered safe. For now at least, your cereal aisle will continue to look like it did in “Unfrosted.”