Despite their attractive packaging, most breakfast cereals contain high levels of sugar, salt and fat, the Consumer Council warned yesterday.

The warning came after the Consumer Council found that 14 out of 15 cereal samples it had obtained from the market contained excessive sugar. All of the products came in fancy packaging.

The sugar content of these samples varied from 14.8 g to 44 g per 100 g of cereal - exceeding the threshold of 12.5 g per 100 g set by the United Kingdom.

"The high sugar content is believed to have derived mostly from 'free sugars' added by the manufacturers in the production process," said Ambrose Ho, chairman of publicity and community relations committee of the Consumer Council.

Free sugars refer to the sugar added by manufacturers, chefs or consumers to food. However, free sugar provides energy only and contains no specific nutrients.

Among the 14 high-sugar cereal samples, "Quaker Cap'n Crunch Original" contained the highest level, with 44 g of sugar in every 100 g.

Every 30 g of the cereal contained 13.2 g of sugar, accounting for over one-fourth of a child's recommended daily intake.

Children are warned against excessive intake of sugar which will result in health problems.

"Sugar can be found in other meals too. That on top of the sugar intake from the breakfast cereal will exceed the daily tolerable level," said Peter Cheung, director of studies of the Food and Nutritional Science Program of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Excessive intake of sugar over a long period of time will lead to diabetes and tooth decay, Cheung added.

Meanwhile, the only sample which contained a tolerable level of sugar was found to have too much sodium.

The test revealed that there is 971 mg sodium in every 100 g of "Kellogg's Rice Krispies". 40 g of the cereal will provide 19 percent of the recommended daily sodium intake.

Cheung said long-term excessive sodium intake will cause high blood pressure, which will raise the chance of stroke for adults.

(HK Edition 10/17/2008 page1)