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Weet-Bix Blends Multi-Grain | Chewsday Review

It’s no secret that I love Weet-Bix! They are one of the few healthy breakfast cereal options for kids. So how do the Weet-Bix Blends range stack up to the OG? This week I reviewed the Weet-Bix Blends Multi-Grain to find out.

Ingredients

Wholegrain cereals (73%) [wheat (39%), rye (12%), sorghum (11%), oats (11%)], rice, sugar, puffed wheat, barley malt extract, coconut (1.5%), salt, honey (0.5%), vegetable oil, vitamins [niacin, riboflavin, vitamin E (contains soy), thiamin, folate], mineral (iron).
Barley malt extract is a sweetener, made from sprouted grains. Essentially it’s another form of sugar (this is found in regular Weet-Bix too).
Common allergens include: soy

Positives

Sugar is within the healthy guidelines, although it is 3 times higher than regular Weet-Bix.
Low fat and saturated fat, well within healthy guidelines. Slightly higher than regular Weet-Bix though, likely due to the addition of vegetable oil and coconut.
Excellent source of fibre at 4.3g per serve! Anything higher than 3g/serve is considered a high fibre food.
The sodium (salt) content is within healthy guidelines, pretty much the same as regular Weet-Bix (270mg/serve).
The blends are fortified with iron, like regular Weet-Bix. One serve (or 2 Weet-Bix) provides about 1/3 of a young child’s daily iron requirements. Iron supports normal growth and brain development and sadly around 8% of Aussie kids are deficient, so this is a big plus.

Negatives

This cereal (and all of the Weet-Bix Blends range) use honey as a sweetener- important for younger bubs as we don’t want to feed our babies honey until after 1 year of age. This is because of the risk of a toxin called botulism found in honey.
Pretty pricey! At $5.30 for a standard 12 serve pack, this is almost double the price of regular Weet-Bix ($2.90). The price isn’t much more per 100g, as you will notice the Multi-Grain Blend weighs slightly more per serve.

Marketing

The goodness of 4 wholegrains- True. Variety of wholegrains is important for a healthy tummy, but I didn’t mention this as a positive because you’re actually getting less wholegrains overall with the
Multi-Grain Blend (73%) compared to regular Weet-Bix (97%). A good source of B vitamins to help you release the energy that you need- Yep! As you can see in the ingredients, this cereal has added B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin and niacin), just like regular Weet-Bix and many other breakfast cereals.

Alternatives

Despite the clever ‘multi-grain’ and ‘wholegrain’ claims, regular Weet-Bix are still the better option here… just in case you didn’t sense that already!
This goes for the rest of the Weet-Bix Blends range too. In a nutshell- the ‘Hi-Bran’ blend has very high fibre, although the sodium and saturated fat content don’t fit within the healthy guidelines. The ‘Apple and Cinnamon’ and ‘Cranberry and Coconut’ blends have higher sugar content (>12g/100g) from the addition of dried fruit and fruit puree concentrates.
Introduce variety to your regular Weet-Bix by adding fresh fruit or ‘breakfast sprinkles’ (if you’re a Baby Mealtimes or Toddler Mealtimes member you will know what I’m talking about). This keeps breaky exciting while adding new tastes, textures and some bonus nutrients.
Weet-Bix Kids (or the newly formulated Weet-Bix Little Kids Essentials) are also a great option, with even less sodium and sugar than regular Weet-Bix. However, this does come at a cost and isn’t absolutely necessary. If you already buy regular Weet-Bix for your family this is a nutritious option!