Up&Go Liquid Breakfast | Chewsday Review
Up&Go Liquid Breakfast. Is it equivalent to two Weet-Bix and milk, or is it a chocolate milkshake? Today’s review will find out!
- Water, skim milk powder, maltodextrin (wheat, corn), cane sugar, plant fibre, soy protein, vegetable oils (sunflower, canola), fructose, oat flour, cocoa (0.5%), flavours, acidity regulator (potassium citrate), mineral (calcium), vegetable gums (460, 466, 407), stabiliser (452), vitamins (C, B3, A, D2, B2, B1, B12, B6), salt.
- Common allergens: soy, wheat (gluten), cow’s milk.
- Good fibre content. Fibre works out to 4g per serve, and anything higher than 3g per serve is great! This is coming from plant fibre and oat flour. I can’t help but be curious which plant makes up the “plant fibre”.
- This is low in sodium, which I’d expect.
- Sugar content just sneaks in at 6.5g per 100g (we’re aiming for less than 7.5g per 100g in drinks) but about a third of this is from added sugar, which isn’t ideal (see below). In comparison, the No Added Sugar Up&Go has 4.2g of naturally occurring sugar per 100ml (but does contain sweeteners).
- Saturated fat content meets my target.
- Calcium content (300mg per serve) works out to 60% of a toddler’s needs and over 40% of a young school child’s needs. Per 100ml, the calcium content (120mg per 100ml) is roughly the same as cow’s milk (128mg per 100ml).
- Protein content is equivalent to the amount in regular cow’s milk.
- There is naturally some sugar in milk (or skim milk powder) but cane sugar, maltodextrin and fructose have been added here. We don’t know exactly how much sugar is coming from naturally occurring sugar in the skim milk powder, but I’d expect there is about 1-2 tsp of added sugar in each tetra pack.
- Like the dairy-free Up&Go, this isn’t fortified with iron.
- Drinks don’t keep you full for as long as food does, so this may mean you have a hungry kiddo before it’s morning tea time.
- A 4.5 health star rating means Up&Go compares well to other ready-made milk drinks. The high fibre, low sodium and low saturated fat contribute well here.
- “With a low GI^, protein and fibre, you’ll have the right type of energy to make the most of every moment that comes your way.” To be fair, this product does deliver on that statement.
- “High in calcium”. This is true, but cow’s milk actually contains more calcium per 100ml.
- Actually this is closer to 2 Weet-Bix and milk than a chocolate milkshake. The biggest downside is that it doesn’t contain any iron, which Weet-Bix do.
- Overall I’m pleasantly surprised by the nutritional content of Up&Go. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some added sugar, which isn’t ideal in a breakfast food, but it’s less than lots of cereals, whilst being higher in fibre than many cereals. My go-to cereal options are still Weet-Bix, Low Sugar Cheerios (while we still have a pantry supply!!), Sultana Bran or oats.
- Because it doesn’t contain iron, I wouldn’t recommend this as a regular breakfast option. However, it is convenient and could be included as a snack, part of breakfast or as a handy option for extra rushed mornings.
- If you’re trying to offer high iron foods regularly, you could make your own smoothie and add some crushed Weet-Bix for iron.
The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.
