Tesco Special Flakes Sugar Content.....Now I'm Confused

[Jon]

I normally eat Tesco Special Flakes which have a sugar content of 4.6% per 30gm serving.
Went to lift one of the the shelf today and noticed the sugar content has zoomed up to 8 or 9% per 40gm serving.

Now i was that taken aback with what i was seeing the figures may vary a little bit from what i have quoted but i am going to check again on Sunday but the sugar content had doubled while the serving had only gone up by 25%.

Please don't go complaining to Tesco until i check these figures again but if they are true it's very disappointing.

 

[Klocky]

I normally eat Tesco Special Flakes which have a sugar content of 4.6% per 30gm serving.
Went to lift one of the the shelf today and noticed the sugar content has zoomed up to 8 or 9% per 40gm serving.

Now i was that taken aback with what i was seeing the figures may vary a little bit from what i have quoted but i am going to check again on Sunday but the sugar content had doubled while the serving had only gone up by 25%.

Please don't go complaining to Tesco until i check these figures again but if they are true it's very disappointing.

You can normally get that sort of info from the Tesco grocery website Jon if that would save you a special trip to your local Tesco?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Jon

Seems slightly odd to say, but looking at the sugar content is not really all that important with something like a 'flakes' cereal.

Many of those are in the 'high GI' category with or without sugar being added (including higher fibre choices like Weetabix that you might have thought would be 'better').

Really you need to look at the total carb content. All carbs will turn to glucose in the bloodstream and the more squashed and mashed the grains have been that faster that absorption will take place.

Sucrose (table sugar) is not as easily broken down as you might think, and though it's a bit counter-intuitive I find burgen toast and jam absorbs more slowly that unsweetened porridge (made with water not milk).

If you have a BG meter you could try testing 1 hour and 2 hours after eating the flakes to see what the effect is on your BG level. Without a meter there really isn't any way to tell how it will affect you. You could use GI/GL as a guide, but these are just averaged figures and your body might behave quite differently.

M

 

[Jon]

I'll try that.
Thanks

 

[Jon]

Even though i've been diabetic for 10 years there's so much to learn still.

 

[Caroline]

Did it say anything about carb content on the pack?

 

[Copepod]

Definitely worth checking. Portion sizes for cereals normally include a set amount of milk. As others have said, it's not just sugar, but total carbohydrate, content that's important.

An arithmetic point: 30g to 40g is a 33.3% increase, not 25% increase. 40g to 30g would be a 25% decrease.

 

[Jon]

Did it say anything about carb content on the pack?

I didn't read it
I just tend to look at the sugars,maybe i'm going about this all wrong.

 

[Jon]

Definitely worth checking. Portion sizes for cereals normally include a set amount of milk. As others have said, it's not just sugar, but total carbohydrate, content that's important.

An arithmetic point: 30g to 40g is a 33.3% increase, not 25% increase. 40g to 30g would be a 25% decrease.

Darn it,i hate when i'm wrong🙂

 

[MargB]

Joh, I never look at portion size figures but always the per 100gm for this very reason. Unless I weigh everything I don't know how much I am pouring out!!

 

[shiv]

Can I just throw in here - who eats only 30g of cereal in a serving?! When I weigh my portion out it's usually at least 50g, and I don't eat huge portions!!

 

[splorp]

I was chatting to someone who worked for Kelloggs and they noted that the amount of sugar (and salt, etc.) they put into cereals had dropped quite a lot over the years; so a packet of Frosties, say, now has about half the sugar than it did in the 1980's. So I guess it's worth keeping an eye on our favourite cereals.

TESCO have obviously decided to go the other way. D'oh!

 

[Jon]

Can I just throw in here - who eats only 30g of cereal in a serving?! When I weigh my portion out it's usually at least 50g, and I don't eat huge portions!!

I know
I'm 6' 1"
Weigh 15st
Thirty grams wouldn't even fill my mouth

 

[novorapidboi26]

Can I just throw in here - who eats only 30g of cereal in a serving?! When I weigh my portion out it's usually at least 50g, and I don't eat huge portions!!

I can manage, but only coz I feel like absolute c**p from high blood sugars in the morning..................

 

[Klocky]

Here is the nutritional content from Tescos website

Nutrition Typical Values 100g contains 30g serving contains
Energy 1575kJ (375kcal) 475kJ (115kcal)
Protein 11.3g 3.4g
Carbohydrate 78.5g 23.6g
Sugars 15.4g 4.6g
Fat 1.3g 0.4g
Saturates 0.2g 0.1g
Mono Unsaturates 0.3g 0.1g
Polyunsaturates 0.7g 0.2g
Fibre 2.6g 0.8g
Sodium* 0.3g 0.1g
*Salt Equivalent 0.7g 0.2g
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 2.3mg (164% of RDA) 0.7mg (50% of RDA)
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 2.6mg (163% of RDA) 0.8mg (50% of RDA)
Niacin 29.7mg (165% of RDA) 8.9mg (49% of RDA)
Vitamin B6 3.3mg (165% of RDA) 1.0mg (50% of RDA)
Folic Acid 330.0?g (165% of RDA) 99.0?g (50% of RDA)
Vitamin B12 1.7?g (170% of RDA) 0.5?g (50% of RDA)
Pantothenic Acid 9.9mg (165% of RDA) 3.0mg (50% of RDA)
Iron 23.1mg (165% of RDA) 6.9mg (49% of RDA)

 

[am64]

now i would have avioded it because the 100mg level is so high ...i try and always keep the sugar % as low as possible eg the bran flakes cereal in my cupboard sugars are 17mg per 100mg but the vogel loaf is 2.9mg per 100mg ...therefore i eat the vogel bread ...and it tastes much nicer 🙂

 

[Alan S]

I didn't read it
I just tend to look at the sugars,maybe i'm going about this all wrong.

Yep, you got that right; you're going about this all wrong 🙂

As klocky listed, here is the important info on that pack:
Carbohydrate 78.5g 23.6g
Sugars 15.4g 4.6g

Even if the sugar content was 10g that pales into insignificance when counted as part of the 78.5g of carbs. Because it IS part of that count. It's the carbs that matter, not the sugar - they all turn to glucose in your blood.

In your 30gm serve there was about 24g carbs. Add a cup of milk to the serve, another 12g, and you have 36g in your breakfast before you add in any others in toast, milk in your tea or coffee or other things.

We are all different, but when I used testing at my peak after breakfast to discover my limits I found my max carb tolerance at breakfast is about 5g. I think it would be wise to try to discover yours, and from now on forget about sugar as a special item; just think about carbs and consider sugar as just another carb like breads, cereals, juices, fruits, corn and potatoes.