The Savvy Shopper. Rose Prince
cereals are GM free?
Apart from the brands mentioned above, organic cereal manufacturers best police the ingredients in their cereals for GM material.
Are cereal bars as wholesome as they look?
Check the labels. Despite their earthy wrapping, they can contain a lot of sugar, salt and flavourings. According to the Food Commission, some cereal bars are very unhealthy. For example, a Kellogg’s Coco-Pops bar was found to contain a greater proportion of calories from sugar than milk chocolate, and there were saturated fats in a Kellogg’s Rice Krispies bar forming 29 per cent of its calories. The Food Commission concluded that many breakfast cereal bars had higher levels of sugar than nutritionists recommend for a healthy breakfast such as a bowl of cereal with semi-skimmed milk. Ten had higher fat levels.
You would imagine, given that cereal bars are popular with children, that pesticide levels would be carefully monitored. In 2001 cereal bars were tested for residues for the first time and they were found in over 70 per cent of them.
How environmentally friendly are breakfast cereals?
The packaging is often mainly recycled but it is a problem nonetheless. There’s too much of it, with too little inside. It is possible to buy known brands of cereal loose by the kilo from ‘weigh’ shops. This is a good and inexpensive avenue to take, providing you trust the source.
Where to buy good breakfast cereals
Perhaps, given the above information, it would be better if we all ate porridge, but the following sell good-quality breakfast cereal. Do read labels, however. These companies usually sell a range and there may be salt and sugar added to some of their products and not to others.
Alara Wholefoods, 110-112 Camley Street, London NWI OPFTel: 020 7387 9303www.alara.co.uk
Imaginative organic muesli-based breakfast cereals, including a fairly traded muesli and a range specially designed for the needs of certain age groups: children (‘Growing’), expectant mothers (‘Blooming’) and older people (‘Prime’—forgive the pet-food connotations, this one is very good). The company has a strong ethical policy, sourcing locally (British) where possible. Home delivery available.
Dorset Cereals, Beverill Avenue East, Poundbury,Dorchester DTI 3WETel: 01305 751000www.dorset-cereals.co.uk
Mueslis made with good-quality cereals and fruit, most of which contain no added sugar. All but one of the mueslis contain no added salt. The high-fibre muesli is recommended.
Jordans Ltd, Holme Mills, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire SGI8 9JYTel: 0800 587 8901www.jordans-cereals.co.uk
Good organic porridge oats and multigrain (non-organic) porridge oats.
Nature’s Path, Community Foods, Brent Terrace,London NW2 ILTTel: 020 8450 941 Iwww.naturespath.com
Excellent range of organic cereals from an ethically minded Canadian company, including Heritage Bites and Heritage Flakes (made with traditional grain breeds) and puffed millet rice. For children there is the Envirokidz range, including Gorilla Munch, cinnamon-flavoured Orangutan ‘O’s and cocoa-dusted Koala Crisps. The only sweetener used in the children’s range is evaporated cane juice.
Sharpham Park, Glastonbury, Somerset BAI6 9SATel: 01458 844080www.sharphamparkshop.com
Launched in 2005, a range of breakfast cereals made from spelt, one of the world’s most ancient cereal plants. Puffed spelt, plus five types of muesli. Mail order available.
Southern Alps Ltd, Unit 14, West Yoke Farm, Michael’s Lane,Ash, Near Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 7HTTel: 01474 871275www.southern-alps.co.uk
Delicious hand-made mueslis prepared from excellent-quality ingredients.
Whole Earth, Combe Lane, Wormley, Godalming,Surrey GU8 5SZTel: 01428 685100www.wholeearthfoods.com
Cornflakes sweetened with cane sugar and no added salt.
BROCCOLI (AND OTHER BRASSICAS)
With its long British growing season and high nutrient content, broccoli has become an essential in almost every shop, and, for a vegetable that comes with the flower attached, it stores well too. Then to add to its merits, there is the beauty of green broccoli’s more sophisticated cousin, purple sprouting broccoli – a vegetable that when eaten freshly picked has as much quality as asparagus. Best of all, broccoli’s sweetness and lack of sulphur flavour mean that children do not wrinkle their noses at it as they traditionally do with unfairly maligned cabbage and Brussels sprouts. So is broccoli all good news for shoppers? Not quite—chief among concerns are the use of pesticides on the crop and a suggestion that this oh-so-healthy vegetable is not quite as good for you as it used to be…
Is broccoli in season all year round?
It may always be on shop shelves but the British season for green broccoli ends with the first frosts of October or November. Most of our broccoli is grown outdoors in Lincolnshire, with the first crops harvested in May. November sees the first harvest of cold-loving purple sprouting broccoli, which should be available until early April, so in theory, if you switch from one to the other you can eat British-grown broccoli all year round.
If it’s not British, who else grows it?
Out-of-season green broccoli is imported from Spain, France and Italy. The broccoli is packed in ice boxes, which keep it ‘fresh’ but the nutrient value is reduced. Broccoli from southern Spain clocks up a weighty 900 food miles. The Spanish also make heavier use of agricultural chemicals. In 2000 the government reported that 14 per cent of sampled imported broccoli contained pesticide residues and half of these were over the maximum recommended level. One sample of British broccoli, however, contained residues of a pesticide banned in the UK. Broccoli was tested again in 2005 but so far results have been published only for broccoli grown in southern European countries. In this instance, residues of the pesticide, chlorothalonil, were found on one sample. Chlorothalonil is permitted in the UK but pesticide watchdogs, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK), have listed this agricultural chemical as a ‘bad actor’ – a pesticide that is a probable carcinogen. The reduction in residues found on all the samples is generally to be welcomed, though broccoli’s popularity should see it tested more frequently than every five years.
Why is broccoli described as a ‘superfood’?
It contains high levels of sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting antioxidant. These nutrients were found occurring naturally in a Sicilian wild relative of the plant, which was then crossbred with commercial species, giving modern broccoli an increased nutritional value with 100 times the level of sulforaphane. Broccoli also contains high levels of calcium, although according to scientists its calcium levels have dropped by 75 per cent since 1940. In his book We Want Real Food (Constable, 2006) Graham Harvey explains that not just broccoli but all vegetables have lost vitamins and minerals. Explanations for this include the over use of fertilisers on crops and, conversely, the breeding of modern hybrids that crop early, resist disease and have a long shelf life. You cannot, therefore, go too wrong if you eat lots more broccoli.
How can I be sure of choosing pesticide-free broccoli?