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Uncle Tobys Oat Crisp Almond | Chewsday Review

With a name like Oat Crisp, I expected oats, but this breakfast is giving me mixed cereals – oops, I mean signals. What else is in the bowl? Let’s crack open this crunchy case!

Ingredients

Wholegrain cereals (70%) [oats (53%), wheat (17%)], sugar, almond (5%), golden syrup, malt extract (barley), glucose (wheat), puffed rice, wheat flour, honey, flavour, salt, sunflower oil, tapioca flour, minerals (calcium, iron, zinc), vitamins (C, niacin, E (soy), B1, B2, B6, folic acid).
Sugar is high up in the ingredient list, as well as added honey, glucose, and golden syrup so I expect this to be high in added sugars.
With a name like Oat Crisp, I expected more than 53% oats!
Allergens: gluten, wheat, almond, soy.
May contain: rye, milk, tree nuts, lupin.

Positives

Fibre hits the mark at 3.2g per serve (we’re aiming for at least 3g per serve).
Total fat and saturated fat are low, which is to be expected for most cereals.
Although there is added salt in this ingredient list, the sodium is still below our target at 215mg per 100g.
It’s great to see this cereal is fortified with vitamins as well as calcium, iron and zinc. One serve provides 31% of daily calcium and 33% of daily iron needs for a toddler. For school aged children, a serve will provide 22% of the RDI of calcium and 30% of iron.

Negatives

Marketing

“4 star health rating”. This seems a lot for a cereal with a lot of added sugars. The cereal being fortified with vitamins and minerals will have bumped this health star rating up as well as the low saturated fat and sodium.
“Goodness made delicious”. Hmmm.. What defines a food as good? Flavour? Nutrition content? Texture? This statement is very open to interpretation.
The “4 step process” on the side of the box explains how the cereal was prepared. “Milled, cooked, toasted and mixed with crunchy oat clusters and sliced almonds”. But these ingredients only make up 75% of the cereal. Where is the other 25%?

Alternatives

Overall, while it’s great to include cereals in your breakfast rotation that are fortified with iron and calcium, the high added sugar content of Uncle Tobys Oat Crisp holds me back. If you do enjoy it, I’d consider mixing in your own oats or crumbled Weet-Bix to bulk it out.
Low Sugar Cheerios or some trusty Weet-Bix both hit that fibre mark of at least 3g per serve and have the same iron content, while giving you a much lower added sugar option.
Looking for more on choosing breakfast cereal? Our Baby, Toddler and Family Mealtimes memberships include a comprehensive product selection guide for breakfast cereals, as well as over 15 other categories.