The health claims on our foods…
Why you can trust them

Are breakfast cereals as healthy as they claim? Can it really be true that most of them only have around 2 tsps of sugar? Can we trust those marketing messages? All questions regularly asked in the media … all of which can be answered “Yes”.

Making a Health Claim on Our Foods

We only make a health claim where there is robust scientific evidence to support it.

Let’s take Optivita…

There are hundreds of scientific studies on the ability of oat beta glucan (oat bran) to lower cholesterol. An independent panel of experts (the Joint Health Claims Initiative) judged that a food that contains 0.75g of oat bran can make the claim that it could help you lower your cholesterol. Optivita has 1g of oat beta glucan… a third more than you need to make the claim.

Optivita has no added salt and contains less than two teaspoonfuls of sugar per serving – much of that from the fruit in it and less than most people less than a banana, a glass of orange juice, a fruit yoghurt and less than many people put in their cup of tea at breakfast time.

What about the link with HEART UK?

HEART UK understands the science behind the cholesterol lowering claims associated with oat beta glucan and they would not approve any products that they felt couldn’t substantiate such claims. Our modest donation is used as funding towards their programme of raising awareness of cholesterol amongst consumer and healthcare professionals.

We’re happy our products have to be judged in this way. It means that you, as consumers, have the reassurance that the health claims on our packs are reliable and can be backed up by solid science.

Listen to Kellogg’s answering the tough questions on its health claims: