Are Shreddies healthy? We take a look at how good this cereal is for you
They're apparently knitted by nanas and they've been on the UK supermarket shelves for years, but are Shreddies actually healthy? It's a worthwhile question to ask because they certainly feel like they should be good for you - they taste pretty good, but they also have that slight blandness that so many healthy cereals tend to have. We also think that people generally consider Shreddies as being quite healthy, and they're given to children as a healthy alternative to the likes of Coco Pops and Frosties.
So we wanted to answer the question once and for all - are Shreddies actually healthy? Let's take a look:
What type of Shreddies are we talking about?
It's important to mention that there are a few varieties of Shreddies, and a number of them definitely can't be considered as healthy. For example, the 'Coco' Shreddies (pictured) are flavoured with chocolate and sugar, and despite being delicious, definitely can't be considered as healthy. You've also got the Frosted Shreddies which again, are sugar-coated and not good for you. In this guide, we'll be focusing on the Original Shreddies.
What are the nutritional stats of Shreddies Original?
You can see from the image we've included of this Shreddies Original box that the lack of red boxes next to the nutritional information section is being proudly displayed on the box, and that is definitely worth highlighting. Most cereals sold in the UK are high in at least one of these categories, so it's impressive to see that Shreddies Original is low in fat, sugars, and salt.
Our main concern would be that while the sugar content is quite low, it's certainly not what we'd describe as "healthy" sugar content. 100g contains 12.5g of sugar, whereas the same amount of Coco Pops contains about 17g of sugar, so it's not miles away from that. We also wouldn't say that Shreddies Original is low in calories - 146kcal per 40g bowl, which is almost identical to Coco Pops.
So overall, this cereal certainly isn't very healthy but we're quite pleasantly surprised by the low fat content.
Final thoughts
Overall, we are quite impressed by what we found here. Shreddies are often thought of as a healthy cereal, and we think the stats back that reputation up. They might not be good for you necessarily, but they're far from the worse choice you could make for breakfast. Let us know what you think!
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.