WHAT TO CHOOSE . . . WHAT TO AVOID . . .
DORSET CEREALS OAT & BARLEY OATS PORRIDGE
£2.69 for ten sachets at Ocado. Per serving: 26p comprises oats and 18 per cent barley flakes — add 180ml skimmed milk and microwave and it’s ready in 3½ minutes. each 42g sachet plus milk provides 9.2g sugar and 4.4g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘Barley contains beta glucan, but less than oats,’ says professor chris seal. ‘But it looks really healthy to me.’ The sugar naturally occurs from the oats and milk, adds dietitian Aisling pigott. ‘it also has a decent amount of fibre. And at 1.3g per 100g before adding milk, the saturated fat is low.’
TASTE TEST: Wholesome flavour. 4/5
QUAKER OATS SUPER GOODNESS PORRIDGE
£3.09 for eight sachets, from supermarkets. Per serving: 38p oats with sugar and dried fruit. This is said to support the immune system, thanks to added vitamins B6, c and D. A 35.6g sachet made in the microwave with 170ml semi-skimmed milk provides 13.4g sugar and 3.2g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: professor seal says: ‘most porridge oats contain around 1g sugar per 100g — but this contains more than 16g.’ This is in the medium sugar category, says Aisling pigott, and provides little fibre. TASTE TEST: synthetic flavour. 2.5/5
M&S PORRIDGE WITH BERRY COMPOTE
£2 for 350g pot. Per serving: £2 A fresh porridge made with oats and semi-skimmed milk with a separate pot of compote. microwave for two minutes. A serving contains 21.7g sugar and 5.3g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘There is more than four teaspoons of sugar in this,’ says professor seal. ‘compote is basically jam. fresh fruit, not compote, would have been better.’ And Aisling pigott says, ‘The fibre is higher than many others here.’ TASTE TEST: creamy texture and full of flavour. 3.5/5
PRET A MANGER COCONUT PORRIDGE
£2.65 per 325g pot. Per serving: £2.65 A ready-made combination of gluten-free jumbo oats, red quinoa, coconut milk and coconut water. A 325g serving contains 2.3g sugar and 3.5g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘oats don’t contain gluten but can only be called gluten-free if where they’re packaged has low levels of gluten,’ says professor seal. Quinoa has more protein but less fibre than oats, he adds. ‘There is little to back health claims for coconut water and milk.’ A serving is a quarter of a woman’s daily maximum saturated fat. TASTE TEST: Thin consistency. 3/5
WAITROSE ORIGINAL NO ADDED SUGAR
89p for a 60g pot. Per serving: 89p made from 75 per cent oats and skimmed milk powder. Add boiling water, stir and leave for three minutes. A 60g pot contains 7.9g sugar and 4.3g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘porridge with no added sugar and good levels of fibre, this sounds good to me,’ says professor seal. ‘And the sugar comes mainly from the milk powder,’ adds Aisling pigott. ‘As a healthy convenient breakfast it’s a good choice, but expensive.’ TASTE TEST: close to homemade. 5/5
READY BREK SUPER-FAST SACHETS
£2.10 for eight sachets. Per serving: 26p rolled oats with oat flour, added niacin, iron, riboflavin, B vitamins and vitamin D. A 30g sachet microwaved with 150ml semi-skimmed milk provides 7.5g sugar and 2.4g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘These are processed more than traditional porridge oats,’ says professor seal, ‘in health terms very similar — but the glycaemic index might be higher, so it will lead to a spike in blood sugar.’ Aisling pigott says: ‘it has much less sugar and more fibre than many children’s breakfast cereals.’ TASTE TEST: A bit bland. 3/5
DELICIOUS ALCHEMY GOLDEN SYRUP OATS
£2.79 for 8 sachets, Holland & Barrett. Per serving: 12p Quick-cook gluten-free oats — add water or milk and microwave for two minutes. A 27g sachet made with water contains 7.6g sugar and 1.4g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘A small serving contains a teaspoon and half of sugar and relatively little fibre, so wouldn’t very filling,’ says professor seal. ‘Golden syrup must be the ‘flavouring’ as there’s no syrup on the ingredient list,’ adds Aisling pigott.
TASTE TEST: overwhelming smell and taste of golden syrup. 1/5
WOLFY’S NUTTY PORRIDGE WITH HONEY
£1.69 per 90g pot, from Waitrose. Per serving: £1.69 oats, nuts and milk powder with separate honey — add boiling water and leave for four minutes, then add honey. provides 20g sugar and 6.2g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘contains a lot of sugar and calories (369),’ says professor seal, ‘but it would be filling.’ ‘it has around four teaspoons of sugar,’ adds Aisling pigott. ‘That’s more than five chunks of Dairy milk chocolate. however, it’s a good source of fibre, with a fifth of your daily 30g, thanks partly to the nuts.’ TASTE TEST: needed more honey. 2/5
GREGGS RED BERRY PORRIDGE
£1.10 for 67g. Per serving: £1.10 CONTAINS gluten-free oats, skimmed milk powder, sugar glucose syrup and dried berries. Add boiling water and leave for a minute. A 67g pot has 14g sugar. The fibre is not listed.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘This has two sources of added sugar and dried fruit which is not really necessary,’ says professor seal. ‘The fruit will improve the fibre content — and in theory add vitamins, but in very small quantities.’ With almost three teaspoons of sugar, it is not the healthiest, adds Aisling pigott, ‘but if you’re stuck it’s better than a bacon sandwich’. TASTE TEST: nice, home-made taste. 2/5
WHITE’S ACTIVOAT HIGH IN PROTEIN PORRIDGE
£2.19 for six sachets from supermarkets Per serving: 36p A COMBINATION of oat flakes and soya protein, said to ‘help maintain muscle mass’; each sachet has more than 10g protein. A 40g serving, microwaved with water, contains 0.3g sugar and 0.3g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘The only sugar is in the oats, but i query why you need extra protein,’ says professor seal. ‘most people get more than enough and 50g of porridge gives 5g of protein.’ Aisling pigott says if you want more ‘you’d be better with an egg’. TASTE TEST: Thin and not very ‘oaty’. 2/5
ORGRAN QUINOA PORRIDGE
£4.99 for 7 sachets, from Ocado. Per sachet: 71p This contains no oats. A 30g sachet (microwaved with 140ml skimmed milk) provides 10.6g sugar and 4.1 g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘it doesn’t qualify as porridge in my eyes,’ says professor seal. ‘Quinoa is a healthy cereal but doesn’t contain all the benefits of oats — it contains some beta glucan, but not much.’ There’s also more sugar. This has ‘none of the benefits of porridge’, but ‘the fibre content is reasonable,’ adds Aisling pigott.
TASTE TEST: overpowering taste of cinnamon, slimy texture. 1/5
STOATS RHUBARB AND BRAMBLE PORRIDGE
£1.29, eatstoats.co.uk and Amazon. Per serving: £1.29 OAT flakes, skimmed milk powder, sugar, and dried fruit. Add boiled water, ready in 3 minutes. A 60g pot has 14.2g sugar and 4.3g fibre.
EXPERT VERDICT: ‘A reasonable amount of fibre (almost a sixth of your daily needs) but this has added sugar (nearly 3 teaspoonfuls in each pot) and i don’t feel it’s necessary,’ says professor seal. ‘The fruit is just 5.7 per cent, not enough for one of your five a day,’ adds Aisling pigott. ‘You are better off having plain porridge and adding fruit.’
TASTE TEST: Very tart tang and quite a clumpy texture. 2/5