Kellogg U.K. cereal
Kellogg will reduce the sugar content in three of its best-selling children’s cereals in the U.K.: Coco Pops, Rice Krispies and Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes.
 

LONDON — The Kellogg Co. is making several reformulation changes to its ready-to-eat cereals in the United Kingdom, part of a larger company initiative called “Better Starts Plan” that aims to help consumers make healthier choices in the morning.

As part of the initiative, Kellogg will reduce the sugar content in three of its best-selling children’s cereals: Coco Pops, Rice Krispies and Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes.

Sugar in Kellogg’s Coco Pops cereal will be cut by 40% (to 17 grams from 30 grams). The reformulation comes on top of a 14% cut in sugar that Kellogg put in place for the cereal earlier this year, meaning that from 2017 to 2018, the company will have halved the sugar in Coco Pops.

Kellogg U.K. Rice Krispies multi-grain cereal shapes
Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes cereal will see a 30% reduction in sugar per serving.
 

Sugar in Rice Krispies cereal will be reduced by 20%, now making it one of the lowest sugar cereals people can buy in the U.K., Kellogg said, while Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes cereal will see a 30% reduction in sugar per serving.

Kellogg said it has been able to reduce the sugar content in the cereals thanks to work by its food development team, which came up with ways to maximize flavor by using the simple ingredients of cocoa and grains to maintain taste, while reducing sugar, without using artificial sweeteners.

In addition to reducing the sugar content in three of its cereals, Kellogg said it will stop making Ricicles cereal in January 2018 and will debut a new plant-based cereal range called WK Kellogg that includes no added sugar, low sugar, organic and vegan varieties. The company also will no longer run any children’s on-pack promotions on Kellogg’s Frosties, in recognition of the fact that this cereal now tends to be eaten by more adults than children in the United Kingdom.

Kellogg new U.K. cereal - W.K. Kellogg
Kellogg will debut a new plant-based cereal range called WK Kellogg that includes no added sugar, low sugar, organic and vegan varieties.
 

Kellogg also said it will go further to reduce salt and plans to reduce salt in Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal in the United Kingdom by a further 10% and in Rice Krispies Multi-Grain Shapes cereal in the United Kingdom by 50% beginning in 2018.

Oliver Morton, Kellogg
Oli Morton, managing director, Kellogg UK

“Kellogg has a long tradition of helping improve the nation’s diet — from pioneering high fiber foods in the early 1900s to adding folic acid to our products in the 1970s; from launching a long-term salt reduction plan in the late 1990s, to adding vitamin D to all our kid’s cereals in 2000s,” said Oli Morton, managing director, Kellogg UK. “We know we have a responsibility to continuously improve the nutrition of our food. We recognize, based on national dietary survey data, that people are eating too much sugar at breakfast and throughout the day and that people need more options, such as organic and vegan.

“That’s why today we are announcing more changes to our foods so that we can continue to support people in making better choices. Our shoppers have told us that taste is still important to them so we’ve worked hard to ensure that our new recipes are just as delicious. We will continue to listen to people about how we can improve our food.”