Maryann Durrant (USBE):
Breakfast cereals can be credited as the grain component, but there are some requirements specific to cereals that you’ll need to be aware of. Often times, if the first ingredient in a breakfast cereal isn’t a whole grain, it won’t say that the flour is enriched. That’s because most breakfast cereals are fortified rather than enriched. You would still be able to serve the cereal if it meets the requirements for the nutrients listed in this chart and if it meets the sugar requirements that we’ll go over next.
Breakfast cereals are a major source of added sugar for children in America which is why there is a sugar limit for breakfast cereals served. Breakfast cereals must contain no more than 6 grams of sugar per dry ounce. Even though we usually use ounces as our unit of weight measurement, when determining whether a breakfast cereal meets the sugar requirements, it’s helpful to figure it out using grams rather than ounces. The cereal would need to have 21.2 grams of sugar per 100 grams of dry cereal. So let’s go through how you would figure this out. First you would find the serving size in grams at the top of the label and the sugars listed towards the middle. You would divide the total sugars by the serving size in grams. If the answer is less than or equal to 0.212, then the cereal is within the required sugar limits. Feel lost? Don’t worry, we’ll go through some examples together.
Let’s find the grams of sugar (6 g) and divide it by the serving size (30 g). We get 0.2. Is 0.2 less than 0.212? It is! This cereal meets the requirements.
Now, what if you don’t like math? It’s ok. There are options for you. One is to use this table. It’s available to you in the handouts. You would find the serving size of the cereal in grams, then look at the grams of sugar in the product. If the grams of sugar is between the sugar limits on the right column of the table, you know that it would meet the requirements and you could serve it. You would also be able to use WIC approved cereals. All WIC approved cereals will meet the sugar requirements. Keep in mind that WIC cereals are a good starting point. There might be cereals that are not WIC approved but meet the sugar requirements.
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