When your mornings are busy, grabbing a cereal bar is a quick, convenient and tasty way to have breakfast on the go. But have you ever stopped and thought, how healthy are cereal bars? The results may surprise you!
We’ve rounded up 20 of the most popular branded cereal bars on the market, plus some popular supermarket own-brand ones, and checked them to find out exactly what’s inside and which ones are best and worst for your diet.
Cereal bars are the ideal go-to snack when you’re on a move. They’re easy to eat, not too pricey and are often seen as a healthy option when it comes to snack time. However, not all cereal bars are as healthy as you think including some of the most popular cereal bar brands out there.
So if you’ve ever wanted to know how healthy are cereal bars, have a look through our gallery of the best and worst cereal bars and find out which ones are the most calorific. We’ve found some pretty shocking results, including a cereal bar which has over 15 grams of sugar – that’s more than a tablespoon! Not so diet-friendly if you think one teaspoon is around 4g, eh?
Cereal bars may come in all sorts of fancy packaging that makes them look as though they’re healthy, but don’t be fooled. Although lots of cereal bars contain real fruit, they can also be very high in nasties like sugar and salt.
There’s no need to cut cereal bars out completely, though, because we’ve also found some pretty healthy options too, so you can make the right choices about which cereal bars are best for a healthy breakfast on the go. We’ve ranked our options in terms of calories, but remember it’s also worth considering protein content, which helps to keep you full, and healthy fats from the inclusion of higher-calorie ingredients like nuts.
So, are cereal bars really healthy? And just how healthy is your favourite cereal bar? It’s time to find out which cereal bars are best and worst for your diet.
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BelVita Breakfast Biscuits Yogurt Crunch
Sugar: 7g per biscuit
Calories: 114 per biscuit (228 per packet of 2 – joint highest calorie content per serving!)
Fat: 1.9g per biscuit
Diet rating: 1/10
Okay, so a chocolate flavoured bar was always going to have a bit of added sweetener, but we were shocked when an Action on Sugar report pointed out that these cocoa-laden treats had 7g sugar per biscuit – that’s 14g (or four teaspoons) per packet.
The calorie count is also high in comparison to many other breakfast substitutes, meaning these are probably one to have as a treat rather than on a daily basis, or try having just one biscuit and supplementing it with fresh fruit or protein-rich Greek yogurt to fill you up.
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BelVita Breakfast Biscuits
Sugar: 3.4g per biscuit
Calories: 57 per biscuit (228 per packet of 4 – joint highest calorie content per serving!)
Fat: 1.9g per biscuit
Diet rating: 2/10
BelVita biscuits may only be 57 calories per biscuit, but don’t forget that you get 4 in a packet, so in total that’s 228 calories in one small packet.
That said, they’re designed to be eaten at breakfast so if you’re not having anything else, they’re not a bad choice in terms of calories (a 30g bowl of Cornflakes and semi-skimmed milk has 180 calories and 3.5g of fat).
The real problem is the sugar. At a total of 13.6g per packet you’re eating three and a half teaspoons of sugar before your day has even begun.
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Nutri-Grain Granola Crunch
Sugar: 7.6 g per bar
Calories: 177 per bar(192 per packet of 4)
Fat: 5.6g
Diet rating: 3/10
With their wholesome packaging, these Nutri Grain breakfast biscuits appear healthier than they actually are. At 177 calories per biscuit they’re a hefty whack all in one go, and you get six in a packet. If you’re anything like us one won’t fill you up either and you’ll end up munching your way through at least three of them before the morning is over. If you are going to have these, try to just eat one and save the rest for a later serving.
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Asda Chosen by You Oats and Honey Bars
Sugar: 8.7g
Calories: 189
Fat: 6.9g
Diet rating: 3/10
Asda’s own-brand cereal bars may be a cheaper option, but at almost 200 calories, 6.9 grams of fat and over 2 teaspoons of sugar per bar, you may have to weigh up whether you’re prioritising llbs or £s…
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Eat Natural Cranberries, Macadamias and Dark Chocolate Bars
Worst overall
Highest fat
Highest sugar
Highest calories
Calories: 215
Fat: 11.1g
Diet rating: 3/10
These little bars are gluten-free so great for allergy sufferers, and they contain dark chocolate, which is more diet-friendly than milk.
A good buy then? Not when it comes to fat content – because of the high ratio of nuts, almost a third of the bar is packed with the stuff! Although the fat and sugar here is probably coming from healthy nuts and naturally sweet fruit we still think we’ll be saving these for an occasional treat.
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Crunchy Nut Chocolate Peanut Crisp Bars
Second worst for fat
Sugar: 7.7g
Calories: 170
Fat: 8.8g
Diet rating: 3/10
Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut cereal bars contain the second highest amount of fat of all the bars we’ve tested, and as the peanuts and chocolate make up almost 50% of the bar, we’re not really surprised!
These are seriously good taste-wise, but probably one to avoid if you’re trying to be a little healthier.
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Nutri-Grain Strawberry Bars
Sugar: 12g
Calories: 131
Fat: 2.8g
Diet rating: 4/10
These bars are 131 calories, so they’re not the worse option for your diet, and they do contain natural strawberry flavouring.
However, sadly it’s not quite enough to hit one of your five-a-day and they rank pretty high on the sweet stuff too, so make sure you balance your intake with some fresh goodies and limit your sugar intake elsewhere!
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Tesco Raisin Munch Bars
Sugar: 11.3g
Calories: 150
Fat: 4.4 g
Diet rating: 4/10
Tesco’s cereal bars contain juicy raisins, which are technically a fruit – but its thanks in part to this that they also contains a not so sweet 11.3g grams (nearly 3 teaspoons) of sugar! You’re better off reaching for a box of Sunmaid.
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Sainsburys Freefrom Muesli Bars
Sugar: 15.8g
Calories: 123
Fat: 4 g
Diet rating: 5/10
Sainsbury’s Muesli bars might be free from dairy, wheat and gluten, but they more than make up for it with sugar, containing a whopping 15.8g of the white stuff!
That’s more than 17% of a women’s guideline daily amount in just one bar – one of the highest amounts we found in any of our healthy cereal bar round up.
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Alpen Strawberry and Yoghurt Bars
Sugar: 10g
Calories: 120
Fat: 2.9g
Diet rating: 5/10
Alpen’s strawberry and yoghurt bars won’t be too bad for your waistline but you’d better have a sweet tooth as they contain 10 grams of sugar per bar – that’s a whole third of their 29 gram weight!
Try Alpen’s ‘lighter’ option to save calories – the difference in the nutritional information is surprising but the taste is just as good.
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Rice Krispies’ Squares
Sugar: 9 g
Calories: 119
Fat: 3.4 g
Diet rating: 5/10
These bars are made with chewy marshmallow, so no wonder they’re more calorific than Rice Krispies’ other snack bars.
They may not be as sweet-tasting, but switch your Squares bar for a Rice Krispies snack bar to save on calories and fat.
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Nature Valley Sweet and Nutty Bars
Sugar: 8.8 g
Calories: 141
Fat: 6.6 g
Diet rating: 5/10
While Nature Valley’s sweet and nutty granola bars don’t contain any unnatural colours, they do contain quite a lot of sugar, so go easy on them.
Break them up and enjoy them as chewy snack squares split over a couple of days instead of eating in one go.
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Jordans Frusli Bars
Sugar: 9.9 g
Calories: 113
Fat: 2.1 g
Diet rating: 5/10
Whilst Jordans cereal bars might have 25% real fruit, they’re also hiding a pretty hefty 9.9 grams of sugar.
Not so healthy, despite that innocent looking fruit all over the packet!
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Frosties Snack Bars
Sugar: 8g
Calories: 103
Fat: 2.8 g
Diet rating: 6/10
Frosties snack bars won’t be too bad for your waistline, and they might not be as sugary as you’d expect, with 8 grams of sugar – definitely not the highest we’ve seen.
However, they’re not the healthiest cereal bar in our round up by far, so there are definitely more nutritious options out there.
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Special K Milk Chocolate Chewy Delight
Sugar: 5.8g
Calories: 96
Fat: 3.1 g
Diet rating: 7/10
Another reasonable option from Special K, these chewy delight bars are under 100 calories per bar.
However, they’re still a little sugary with nearly 6 grams of the stuff per bar, so don’t go overboard!
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Special K Biscuit Moments Strawberry
Sugar: 7.8 g
Calories: 98
Fat: 2 g
Diet rating: 7/10
Special K’s biscuit moments are a pretty calorie-friendly option – you get two biscuits per packet for under 100 calories. Not bad considering these feel lindulgent option!
You could share one with someone else if you only want to eat half the calories, but we won’t tell if you don’t.
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Coco Pops Snack Bars
Sugar:8.4 g
Calories: 83
Fat: 2.4 g
Diet rating: 1/10
At first glance the calorie count of these cereal bars seems pretty diet-friendly, but recent reports have shown Coco Pops Snack Bars to contain one of the highest levels of sugar in cereal bars, with 42% sugar in each 20g serving.
Shocking, especially when you consider that these are aimed at children. Click through to see the 4 other worst cereal bars!
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Rice Krispies Snack Bars
Sugar: 7g
Calories: 83
Fat: 2 g
Diet rating: 1/10
Although a low-fat option, these Rice Krispies snack bars aren’t great when it comes to their sugar content – that’s nearly 2 teaspoons.
In fact, along with Coco Pops Snack Bars, Special K Red Berry and Nutri-Grain Fruity Breakfast, they’re in the top five worst for sugar, according to Which? findings.
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Sainsbury’s Basics Chocolate Chip Cereal Bars
Sugar: 6.2 g
Calories: 99
Fat: 2.3 g
Diet rating: 9/10
Sainsbury’s own-brand cereal bars are great as they’re just 99 calories a bar and give you a good old chocolate hit.
Be careful of the sugar content though – 6.2 g of a 25 g bar is sugar.
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Alpen Light Bars Cherry Bakewell
The best overall
Lowest sugar
Lowest calorie content per serving
Lowest fat content per serving
Sugar: 3.4 g
Calories: 65
Fat: 1.1 g
Diet rating: 9/10
Alpen’s Light cereal bars are just 63 calories and contain a tiny 0.7 grams of fat.
Unlike many of the other options on the shelves, these cereal bars aren’t too bad on sugar either – a good quick breakfast option if you’re in a hurry!