Cereal. You know – the crunchy stuff we all love to drown in milk and scoff down first thing in the morning. So many adults and children start their day with a bowl of cereal. But does anybody know which cereals are highest in sugar? Well, I am pretty well placed to help answer this question as I have already personally researched and written 16 articles looking at the sugar content of the most popular cereals out there. In this post, I will go through some of the highest sugar cereals out there.
What Cereals Are Highest In Sugar?
As a general rule, some of the highest sugar cereals out there are the cereals marketed towards children. Frosted, honey-based, fruit-based, marshmallow, and chocolate-based cereals tend to be higher sugar cereals, usually containing 12g-19g of total sugar per serving.
1. General Mills Raisin Nut Bran – 19g of Total Sugar
You may be surprised by one of the highest-sugar cereals I came across during my cereal research here at Low Sugar Snax. General Mill Raisin Nut Bran. Yes, I told you it was surprising. On the one hand, of course, I know that raisins are naturally high in sugar, but only 5g of those sugars are naturally occurring – the remaining 14g are added. If you want to find out about lower-sugar bran cereals then make sure to check out the following post I wrote here.
2. Some Special K Varieties – 15g-18g of Sugar
I was also kinda surprised when I was writing my post on the sugar content of the various Special K cereals to find out how high in sugar some of the flavored varieties are. Yes, the Original version contains just 4g of sugar per dry serving, but some of the flavored ones can contain as much as 18g per serving. For example, there are 18g of sugar in a serving of Special K Strawberry Cheesecake Flavored Flakes, 16g of sugar in a serving of Special K Chocolatey Dipped Flakes With Almonds, and 15g of sugar in a serving of Special K Oat Crunch Honey.
3. Cap N Crunch – 17g of Total Sugar
One of the highest sugar popular kids’ cereal brands I came across in my research is actually Cap N Crunch. Yes, the cereals with a captain on the front! There are 17g of sugar per dry serving. If you want to find out about lower sugar Cap N Crunch alternatives (spoiler alert – they go as low as 6g of sugar per serving) then make sure to check out the post I wrote on the topic here.
4. Cheerio Oat Crunch Range – 15g of Total Sugar
Ok, so Original Cheerios are a very low sugar cereal, clocking in at just 2g of sugar per serving! However, Cheerio’s Oat Crunch Range is Cheerio’s highest sugar variety, as all three flavors (Oats N Honey, Cinnamon, and Almond) contain 15g of sugar per serving.
You can read more about it here in the post I wrote on the sugar content of Cheerios cereals here.
5. Cinnamon Toast Crunch – 12g of Total Sugar
Next up is everyone’s fave cinnamon cereal – Cinnamon Toast Crunch! Cinnamon Toast Crunch contains 12g of sugar per dry serving. What is interesting is that many of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch copycat brands contain more sugar – usually 14g of sugar per serving. You can read more about it (as well as find out about sugar-free alternatives) here in the post I wrote.
6. Cocoa Puffs – 12g of Total Sugar
Okay, so it probably isn’t a huge surprise that chocolate cereals with cartoon characters on the front of the packaging g do not tend to be the lowest sugar cereals out there. There are 12g of sugar in a dry serving of Coca Puffs. You can read more about it as well as find out about lower sugar options here – insert cocoa puffs post.
7. Frosted Flakes – 12g of Total Sugar
Again it also shouldn’t come as a huge shock that frosted cereals like Frosted Flakes aren’t a lower-sugar cereal. I mean frosted is essentially code for sugar-coated. There are 12g of total sugar in a serving of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and 15g of sugar in most own-brand versions of Frosted Flakes. You can read more about it here in the post I wrote on the sugar content of frosted flakes here.
8. Honey Nut Cheerios – 12g of Sugar
Above I established that Cheerios Oat Crunch range is Cheerio’s highest sugar variety. But Honey Nut Cheerios are also another higher sugar Cheerio cereal, coming in at 12g per serving. Again, any cereals with honey in the name will tend not to be a lower sugar cereal. You can read more about it here (as well as some cool sugar-free alternatives to Honey Nut Cheerios) here.
9. Reese’s Puffs – 12g of Total Sugar
There are also 12g of sugar in a serving of Reese’s Puffs. I mean a cereal replica of a candy was never going to be a low sugar option right? There is, however, a sugar-free chocolate peanut butter cereal that could be an alternative option to Reese’s Puffs which you can find out about here in the post I wrote.
10. Lucky Charms – 12g of Total Sugar
Next up is everyone’s favorite Irish Leprechaun-branded cereal. I mean Lucky Charms is filled with colorful marshmallows so of course it is going to be a higher sugar cereal, coming in at 12g of sugar per serving. In fact, it is not Lucky Charms themselves that you need to watch out for but the equivalent brands – as competitor-branded versions of Lucky Charms can contain as much as 13g-17g of sugar per serving. You can read more about it here in the post I wrote.
11. Froot Loops – 12g of Total Sugar
Next on this list is another brightly colored cereal marketed towards children. There are 12g of total sugar per serving of Froot Loops. Just like with Lucky Charms though the alternative own-brand versions of Froot Loops are actually higher in sugar, at 13g-15g per serving. You can read more about it, as well as about a sugar-free Froot Loop alternative here.
12. Golden Grahams – 12g of Total Sugar
Next is everybody’s fave honey graham cereal – Golden Grahams. There are 12g of total sugar in a cup serving of Golden Grahams.
Just like Lucky Charms and Froot Loops then own-brand versions are higher in sugar, usually 14g of sugar per dry serving. This is for good reason – the own brand “Honey Graham” cereals tend to contain both real honey and sugar whereas Golden Grahams themselves are just sweetened with sugar and get their honey taste from natural flavors. You can read more about it, as well as about the best sugar free Golden Graham alternative here – insert Golden Graham post.
13. Flavored or Frosted Wheat – 12g of Total Sugar
Did you know that plain Shredded Wheat is one of the lowest sugar cereals out there, coming in at 0g of sugar per serving. That’s right! However, it’s not quite the same situation with frosted or flavored shredded wheat which are much higher in sugar. For example, there are 12g of total sugar in a serving of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats and 12g of total sugar in a serving of Mom’s Best Blue Pom Wheatfuls. You can read more about it here in the post I wrote here.
What Cereals Are Highest In Sugar? – The Final Bite
What are the highest sugar cereals? What have we learned from the above? Well, unsurprisingly kids’ cereals tend to be high in sugar. Frosted, honey-based, fruit-based, marshmallow, and chocolate-based cereals tend to be the highest sugar cereals out there and can contain as much as 19g of sugar per serving. So if are watching your sugar intake but love cereal, then make sure to avoid these types of cereal.
And remember…
Ingredients and/or manufacturing processes may change. Always double-check ingredient lists and nutritional information before purchasing any food items.
WANT TO FIND MORE LOW SUGAR OPTIONS?
Do you want to learn about some other low-sugar options at your favorite coffee chains, fast food, or restaurant joints, or just while you are shopping for groceries? If you do, then check out some of my other articles below:
