Kellogg's to slash sugar in cereals and axe Ricicles

Cereal maker Kellogg's is to stop making Ricicles and cut the amount of sugar in its top three children's cereals.
Kellogg's is to slash the amount of sugar in three of its cereals eaten by children by at least a fifth.Kellogg's is to slash the amount of sugar in three of its cereals eaten by children by at least a fifth.
Kellogg's is to slash the amount of sugar in three of its cereals eaten by children by at least a fifth.

The firm said it would slash sugar in Coco Pops, Rice Krispies, and Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes by between 20 per cent and 40 per cent by the middle of next year.

It said it would also end on-pack promotions aimed at children on its Frosties cereal.

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The move comes in the wake of campaigns aiming to cut down the amount of sugar consumed by children.

Kellogg’s said it plans to cut the amount of sugar in Coco Pops from 30g per 100g to 17g, a 40 per cent reduction.

Oli Morton, Kellogg UK, managing director, said: “Kellogg has a long tradition of helping improve the nation’s diet – from pioneering high fibre foods in the early 1900’s to adding folic acid to our products in the 1970s; from launching a long-term salt reduction plan in the late 1990s, to adding vitamin D to all our kid’s cereals in 2000s.

“We know we have a responsibility to continuously improve the nutrition of our food. We recognise, based on national dietary survey data, that people are eating too much sugar at breakfast and throughout the day and that people need more options, such as organic and vegan.”

He added: “That’s why today we are announcing more changes to our foods so that we can continue to support people in making better choices.”

In March, officials at Public Health England, backed by discussions with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, called on food firms to cut sugar by a fifth by 2020, and by five per cent this year.

Campaigners welcomed the move, but called for further labelling to give information about the sugar and salt content of cereals.

Jenny Rosborough, campaign manager at Action on Sugar, said: “We are encouraged by Kellogg’s sugar reduction plans and the recent changes they’ve made and would now like to see this ambition rolled out across their whole portfolio of cereals. It is crucial that manufacturers take responsibility for the nutritional quality of cereals they’re selling and how they market them, particularly to children.

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“We’d like to see Kellogg’s implement front of pack colour coded labelling to support parents in choosing their lower sugar and salt cereals more easily.”

The firm also pledged to “go further to tackle salt”, pointing to a 58 per cent reduction in salt in its cereals since 1999.

Sarah Alderton, assistant nutritionist at Consensus Action on Salt & Health said: “We are pleased to see that, in addition to reducing sugar, Kellogg’s has committed to further salt reduction in some of its best-selling children’s’ cereals.

“Whilst this is promising news and shows that salt reduction is still a priority for manufacturers, we hope that this will be extended across the entire Kellogg’s breakfast cereal range to include those eaten by adults as well children.”

Comedian Richard Osman took to Twitter to voice his concern at the announcement.

He said: “Gutted that Kellogg’s have announced they’re axing Ricicles. How will we know what the worst cereal in a Variety Pack is now?”

Earlier this month, the company unveiled a range of no-added-sugar, plant-based cereals.