• Cereal FACTS in Brief
• Nutrition Ranking for Child and Family Cereals
• Top 10 Cereals by Nutrition Score
• Bottom 10 Cereals by Nutrition Score
• 10 Most Frequently Marketed Cereals to Children on TV

Cereal FACTS in Brief

Cereal FACTS was developed in an effort to highlight how food marketing affects the health of our most vulnerable citizens, our children. The Cereal FACTS report examines nutritional quality and marketing practices of child-targeted cereals. 

Key Findings

• The average preschooler sees 642 cereal ads per year just on television, almost all for cereals with the worst nutrition ratings.
• Compared to cereals marketed to adults, those marketed to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber, and 60% more sodium.
• Cereal companies together spend more than $156 million per year marketing to children.
• Of the ten cereals with the worst overall impact (nutrition and marketing scores combined), six are products from General Mills, three are from Kellogg, and one is from Post.
• The Millsberry.com website from General Mills averages 767,000 young visitors per month and Postopia.com averages 265,000 young visitors. The vast majority of pages on these sites feature cereals with poor nutrition ratings.
• The cereal companies all have products that receive good nutrition scores, but few are marketed to children. Research shows that children will eat the healthier cereals.

Recommendations

• Self-regulation by industry should not forestall needed government action. Self-regulatory pledges by the cereal companies have thus far been weak and have not shielded children from a barrage of messages to eat the least healthy products. Companies should be held accountable for the impact their products have on children. 
• Cereal marketed to children should meet objective nutrition standards that have children's health in mind. We recommend those used by the UK Food Standards Agency, which are based on research by scientists at Oxford University. An impartial body like the Institute of Medicine should set the standards.  

To learn more about Cereal FACTS see the Report Summary, the cereal nutrition and marketing tools for consumers, and the FAQ section.