Wendyl Nissen: Vogel's cracks healthy cereal number

NZ Herald·

27 Jan, 2017 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Vogel's All Good Almond Cashew and Linseed. $5.00 for 500g. Photo / Supplied: Wendyl Nissen

It's that time of year when the hunt is on for healthy food now that the silly season and the crazy eating is over.

I spent a long time in the cereal aisle of our local supermarket determined to find a cereal that didn't have sugar as the main ingredient. I also wanted a high amount of fibre and not a lot of salt or fat. I found this and thought it was too good to be true. Then I tasted it and it was lovely. So this is now our go-to cereal in my house.

Vogel's All Good Almond Cashew and Linseed. $5 for 500g.

Ingredients (in order of greatest quantity first):

Cereals (71%) (Wholegrain 67%) (oats, wheat, buckwheat, rice)
These are good cereals to have in your diet. Oats is low GI so it burns slowly and releases energy gradually keeping you fuelled and is also soothing on the gut.

Wheat has similar properties and when it is in the whole grain form is extremely good for you.

Buckwheat is a new food for some people and isn't strictly a cereal as is a fruit seed which is related to rhubarb and sorrel.It has many valuable nutrients and is also good for controlling blood sugar levels.

Rice is also a valuable cereal to eat, especially it if is brown rice.

Nuts and Seeds (12%) (linseed 93%), almonds (2.5%), peanuts, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts (1.5%), pumpkin seeds)
You can clearly see all of these in the mix and they added a lot to the flavour. Nuts and seeds are not only nutritious but they also contribute to the fibre in your gut.

This cereal is very high in fibre at 8.2g per 50g serve. It is recommended that men eat 30g and women 25g of fibre per day. Most of us don't eat nearly that much.

Natural dietary fibre (7%)
This will be contributing to the high fibre content of this product. I've written about "faux fibres" before.

Usually it will be inulin which is made from chicory or pectin, it would be good to know which one was in here. You would think that with 83% of this product made up of cereals, nuts and seeds you wouldn't need to add anymore.

There is some debate as to whether "faux fibres" operate in your gut as fibre from an apple or oats would.

Sugar
This is a very low-sugar cereal which gives it priority status on the supermarket shelf in my opinion. You will get just 3.5g of sugar per 50g serve which is less than a teaspoon.

Maltodextrin
This white powder is made from starch which is cooked then acids or enzymes are added to break it down. The result is a water-soluble powder with a neutral taste. It can be used as a thickener, a filler and a preservative in processed foods

Rice bran oil
This is a healthy oil because it is free of trans fats and low in saturated oil.

Barley malt extract
This will most likely be in here as a flavour.

Natural flavours
Good to see natural flavours use in here.

Potato starch
This is similar to cornflour. Not sure why it is in here unless it is used as a coating to hold the flavour onto the various nuts, seeds and cereals.

Salt
This is very low in salt also. You'll get just 37mg of sodium per 50g serve.

Molasses
This will be in here to provide flavour but also perhaps as a coating for the cereals.

Dextrose
This is a form of glucose taken from starches.

Stevia extractStevia is South American plant which looks a bit like mint and whose leaves are very sweet.

It is 300 times sweeter than sugar and has no calories or ill effects on your teeth. It will be in here to provide a sweet taste but reduce the amount of sugar in the cereal.

Vitamins (vitamin E, folate)
These are added in here for extra nutrition.

My recommendations:
Vogel's has worked hard to create a cereal which has loads of natural cereals, nuts and seeds, and not too much sugar which is usually the culprit in a muesli-like breakfast product.

It has also managed to introduce some stevia without letting its bitter taste dominate.
There are no artificial flavours or colours, which is wonderful, and you know it's real food because advice on the pack tells you to eat it within four weeks.

One piece of advice. Don't put the words "Vogel's All Good" on your shopping list for your husband or he'll come home without the cereal having thought that we were all good for Vogel's bread.

Highlights:
• Only 3.5g of sugar per serve.
• Lots of fibre at 8.2g per serve.
• No artificial colours or flavours.

Transparent labels:
Sealord has announced it will introduce new labelling on some of its products to offer total transparency.

In Wendyl's recent review of the company's Lemon, Sesame and Ginger Tuna Pocket, she wrote that the flavouring "seems to be an artificial flavour as there is no mention of it being natural".

Sealord says it does use natural flavours and, after a review, "in future all the Pockets rabge will detail the specific natural ingredients".