Some ‘healthy’ mueslis are worse for you than a bowl of KitKat cereal – including Waitrose own-brand choice

It’s the most important meal of the day, yet according to a new report some supposedly healthy mueslis are no better for you than Nestle’s KitKat cereal.

Recommended portions of some premium brand mueslis have been revealed to contain up to 20g of sugar – around 5 teaspoons – despite their manufacturer’s health-conscious claims. 

A survey by consumer watchdog Which? of 86 muesli products lining supermarket shelves in the UK found that while muesli is generally a healthy choice – due to its high fibre content- some varieties may actually be worse for you than the chocolate wafer-inspired Nestle cereal.  

Which? Nutritionist Shefalee Loth said: ‘Expensive price tags, premium branding and wellness buzzwords don’t guarantee nutritional value.  

‘In fact, the healthiest options are often the simplest and the cheapest, so it’s worth reading the small print if you are worried about sugar or saturated fat.’

Researchers ranked the mueslis using the same strict standards used to decide whether foods are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS). 

Earlier this year, new guidelines enforced a ban on these foods being advertised on TV before the watershed and a blanket ban online in a bid to tackle the childhood obesity crisis. 

Under this new ruling, some products deemed as ‘healthy alternatives’ to sugar-laden cereals, including muesli, were removed from our screens, but not our shelves. 

Under the model, products are ranked on a scale from one to 100, with essential nutrients such as fibre and protein and refined sugars and saturated fats taken into account. 

The score for healthy nutrients is subtracted from the score for health-adverse nutrients to give the final nutrient profiling model score. 

According to Which?’s analysis, Raw Gorilla Keto Mighty Muesli took bottom place with a score of just 46, despite claiming to contain zero refined sugar.

By comparison, Nestle’s chocolate KitKat cereal scored 56, containing six times less saturated fat than the mighty muesli, which markets itself as for the ‘health-driven’ consumer. 

The difference, nutritionists say, is all to do with fat and calorie content. As a specialist keto product, the muesli is very low in sugar, with just 1.5g per 100g. 

But because it contains nuts, seeds and coconut flakes, it is also high in saturated fats and contains more calories than standard muesli and even chocolate cereals. 

When approached for comment by Which? a spokesperson from RawGorilla said:  ‘Comparing a specialist KETO product to sugary ultra-processed cereals highlights the limits of this method, a one-size-fits-all mathematical model.

‘While the system penalises the natural energy density and the fat content of our seeds and nuts, it ignores the vital difference between unprocessed whole foods and ultra-processed products; real health is about the quality of the food, not just a calorie count.’ 

Leading nutritionists have previously spoken out about the nutrient profiling method, saying it’s always worth checking the ingredient list and watching your portion size. 

‘It doesn’t necessarily mean these foods are ‘bad’, Rob Hobson previously told the Daily Mail, ‘but it encourages us to look at the overall balance of a product rather than its health halo’. 

A keto diet heroes high-fat, low-carb foods to force the body into a state of ketosis, where it burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. 

Devotees of the regime claim it can support weight loss and even ward off symptoms of depression. But experts warn it can also increase the risk of liver cancer due to its high fat content. 

Also on the consumer watchdog’s list of least healthy mueslis, with a score of 62/100 was Waitrose’s own brand Essential No Added Sugar muesli which scored maximum penalties for its sugar content, at 19.5g despite its relatively high fibre content.

The NHS recommends adults eat no more than 30g of sugar per day. 

Which? said these results upend widely held assumptions that premium equals healthy, with some more budget-friendly mueslis built around simple wholegrains scoring the highest marks.

Top of the list, scoring an impressive 80/100 were supermarket own-brand ranges including Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. 

As well as being the healthiest, according to the report, these products were also the cheapest, costing less than 10p a bowl, making them more widely accessible than the more premium products. 

Holland & Barrett’s 15 Plant Fruit and Nut muesli also scored particularly well, due to its high fibre and protein content, with 100g packing in an impressive 11.5g of fibre.

Government guidelines recommend most adults aim for around 30g of fibre a day, as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

As a type of carbohydrate the body can’t digest, it passes through the body rather than being broken down into sugar, helping to slow digestion and resist spikes in blood sugar. 

Soluble fibre, found in things like nuts and seeds, may also help control the amount of ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood. 

But, the report found that even health-conscious shoppers looking to up their fibre content can find themselves confused by portion sizes and inconsistent labelling – a phenomenon known as ‘portion distortion.’ 

However, despite some cereals’ shortcomings, nutritionists at Which? said, overall, most mueslis sit comfortably in the healthy middle ground, packing in a good amount of protein, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids that aren’t found in the most popular brands of breakfast cereal.

In 2024, the Government introduced stricter guidelines than ever before, which mandate that companies like McDonald’s and Cadbury, can only run brand adverts if they do not contain ‘identifiable’ products.

This was in response to the food industry threatening legal action against the proposed blanket ban.

Food campaigners clapped back at the proposal, saying that ‘we must remain focused on the goal: banning all forms of junk food advertising to children.’