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WHAT'S THE STORY WITH HIGH-SUGAR BREAKFAST CEREALS?:THE UK’S long-running sugar wars were reignited towards the end of last month when the almost universally respected consumer magazine Which? published one of its infrequent reports into the state of the breakfast cereal market and again found most of the big name brands wanting.

The report, titled “Going Against the Grain”, found the sugar levels in many cereals reviewed to be “shockingly high”, and it described as “particularly worrying” the fact that so many high-sugar cereals were still being marketed to children. It said a number of adult cereals, including Special K and Bran Flakes, are dressed up as healthy alternatives but actually contain more sugar than a bowl of chocolate fudge ice-cream, which is quite a distance from how the svelte, wholesome characters in the advertising campaigns represent them.