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Sultana Bran Buds | Chewsday Review

After adding Sultana Bran to my list of go-to cereals, I was curious to see how Sultana Bran Buds compare. Will I be won over by Buddy the super cute purple Hunger Monster, or is this cereal just riding on the coat-tails of regular Sultana Bran?

Ingredients

Wheat bran (29%), wheat flour, sultana filling (20%)(sultanas [10%], invert sugar syrup, humectant [glycerol], flavour), sugar, oat fibre, malted wheat flour, salt, colour (beta-carotene, caramelised sugar), antioxidant (rosemary extract), vitamins (niacin, vitamin B6, riboflavin, thiamin, folate), skim milk powder, soy flour, minerals (iron, zinc oxide).
Sultana Bran Buds contain ‘sultana filling’ instead of sultanas, so right off the bat I’m expecting them to be higher in sugar than the original Sultana Bran.
Added vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, iron and zinc.
Allergens: wheat, gluten, milk, soy
May contain: tree nuts

Positives

Sultana Bran Buds are iron fortified, which in combination with added zinc can be useful for little ones still learning to like meat. One serve of Sultana Bran Buds provides 3mg iron, which is the same as two Weet-Bix and over 25% of the daily iron requirement for young children.
With 22.1g fibre per 100g, Sultana Bran Buds are seriously high in fibre thanks to the wheat bran and added oat fibre.This fibre content is even higher than original Sultana Bran (15.1g per 100g), Weet-Bix (12.9g per 100g) and Low Sugar Vanilla Cheerios (16.2g per 100g).
Sodium is within guidelines (150mg per 100g) and lower than lots of other breakfast cereals.

Negatives

Sugar content is well above recommendations at 26.0g per 100g. Original Sultana Bran actually has a higher total sugar content (28.4g per 100g), but two thirds of this is from the sultanas, whereas only 10% of the sultana filling in Sultana Bran Buds is made from sultanas! Uncle Toby’s Fruity Bites or Aldi Fruity Bursts are other similar products which are slightly lower in sugar (22.3g per 100g), but also a lot lower in fibre (7.7g per 100g), so much of a muchness.
At $16.70 per kg, Sultana Bran Buds are double the price of a value pack of Sultana Bran ($8.40/kg) and four times the price of Weet-Bix or oats.

Marketing

‘Beat the Hunger Monster’ and ‘Delicious fibre that helps keep your little monster happy’. If this cereal is all it takes to keep a kiddo happy, then sign me up! In all seriousness, this claim is referring to the impact of fibre on feelings of fullness, which actually has inconclusive evidence.
The other claims related to benefits of dietary fibre around ‘supporting digestive wellness’ and ‘promoting regularity and good gut bacteria’ are very general, but reasonably well established.
‘More than 25% of their daily fibre needs’. Kellogg’s are underselling themselves here! One serve of Sultana Bran Buds provides 7.7g fibre, which is 42% of the daily fibre target for young children, or 35% for teenagers.

Alternatives