A leading nutritionist has accused consumer watchdog Which? of misleading people in its Cereal Re-Offenders report, which claimed that many cereals were high in salt, sugar and saturated fat.
"The Which? report misrepresents the contribution made by breakfast cereals to the diet," said Professor Tom Sanders, head of research and nutrition at King's College London and scientific governor at the British Nutrition Foundation.
He said the report, which stated that some cereals had the same sugar levels as chocolate bars and the same salt levels as bags of crisps: "fails to acknowledge research by the FSA, which shows that breakfast cereals only make a small contribution to the intake of salt and sugar (less than 10%), but make a very important contribution (25-30%) to the intakes of several vitamins and iron"
He added: "It is regrettable that a respected consumer organisation has not given parents a balanced view of breakfast cereals, but seems more intent on garnering headlines, implying that many breakfast cereals are damaging children's health."
Which? responded: "Many cereals promote themselves as having a healthy image but our assessment clearly shows that this is not always the case. In particular, we question why 88% of those cereals marketed to children are high in sugar; in some cases children would be better eating adult versions."