Breakfast Cereals Hot Or Cold

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31986, 13 May 1969, Page 20

Breakfast Cereals Hot Or Cold

It seems that it makes little difference whether breakfast cereal is poured “straight from the packet” or whether a steaming bowl of porridge is eaten in the morning. According to the May issue of the Consumers’ Institute’s magazine, cereal and milk Supplement each other’s food values to give a useful contribution of nutrients to the dally diet. Only in convenience and cost is there an appreciable difference between the hot and cold types of cereal. “If you prefer the convenience of just shaking cold cereal into a plate and pouring milk on it, you may not mind the price—roughly twice as much a plateful as for hot cereals,” the journal says. “On the other hand, if you don’t mind the preparation time you may plump for a porridge-type cereal as a more economical way of filling several hungry young mouths.” The institute reached its conclusions after two series of tests, the first on 10 brands of ready-to-eat cereals and the second on 15 porridgetype products. All the porridges contributed significantly towards the day’s recommended requirements of thiamine, and, if cooked with iodised salt, were an important source of iodine. Porridge cereals containing wheat and wheat germ had higher iron and vitamin values than the oat products. Of cold cereals, the institute said that products made from corn or wheat contributed significant amounts of iron and niacin to the diet, but the rice-based

cereals, though more expensive, were found to be inferior' in most respects for food value. Modern processing methods had little effect on the original food value of oats and wheat when they are made into hot cereals. The high temperatures used to prepare the crisp, toasty flakes of ready-to-eat cereals affected some of the aminoacids in their protein, but the addition of milk, largely compensated for this.