Fly Me to the Moon (& Stars!)

I was recently contacted by my local netmums board to help review a new cereal from Coco Pops.  Now, you should know- I lurrrrve Coco Pops!! As a kid, they were my weekend breakfast treat, for putting up with healthy breakfasts during the week to 'help my brain wake up for school'.  I'd have a big bowl full, stirring them for ages first to make the milk go chocolately, then scoffing them down in rather indecent haste.  And, of course, saving the milk to slurp down after all the cereal had gone! :)


Well, I say their new cereal, it's actually been re-developed, after Kellogg's listened to previous feedback.  This cereal is now:

• High in Fibre and contains wholegrain
• A source of six B vitamins, vitamin D, iron, calcium (even without adding milk!)
• Low in fat and salt (always a winner in my book)
• 9% of the guideline daily allowance of sugar per 30g bowl, adult and child GDA
• LESS sugar than leading children's cereals, including Coco Shreddies, Nesquik and Sugar Puffs
• LESS salt than leading children's cereals, including Cheerios and Shreddies
• LESS fat than leading children's cereals, including Weetos, Cheerios and new Weetabix Choc (good news especially for me!)

I will admit to giving Madam chocolate cereals from time to time, she's tried chocolate mini Weetabix and chocolate Ready Brek.  She wasn't keen at all on the Ready Brek, and I wanted a cheaper alternative to Weetabix, so I jumped at the chance to try:

Here's what the creators had to say:

"The Coco Pops Promise

Listening to what parents have to say is a big part of the Coco Pops Promise - a long term commitment to keep making nutritional improvements whilst making great tasting cereals your kids love!

A recent survey on Netmums has shown that 69% of those taking part would prefer their kids to eat higher fibre foods and 74% want more ways to get fibre into their kids.

That is why 'Fibre' is a big focus for the nutrition team at Kellogg's, and the first part of the Coco Pops Promise was to develop 2 high fibre cereals. 8 out of 10 children do not get enough of this important nutrient¹ and our focus has been to help parents get more fibre into their children's diets."

What's the big deal on Fibre though? Why it is good for us, and how do we get it?

Fibre is usually found in plants – fruit, vegetables and grains such as wheat and oats. In grain, fibre is usually the outer layer. And a very important layer at that!

Different types of fibre work in different ways – some fibres can help to keep us feeling full and satisfied. Others can help improve digestion by helping food move through the stomach and digestive system, and some provide a food source for the friendly bacteria that live in the lower part of your digestive system.

That all sounds good to me, so on with the tasting!  Well, they certainly looked like crescent moons and stars:

I shared a bowl of them with Madam.  I really liked the way they stayed crunchy even after five minutes in the milk, I can't stand soggy cereal!  Unfortunately, that made them not so brilliant for Madam.  I think it's due to the fact she doesn't have all her back teeth, but she wasn't able to chew these very well.  Hey, at least that meant more for me!  I was slightly disappointed at the chocolatey-ness of the milk, it tasted quite mild and hardly changed the colour at all.  I guess I'm just desperately trying to resurrect the breakfasts of my youth, haha!

Overall, I quite liked this cereal, but I rarely have breakfast (or rather, time for breakfast!), and as Madam didn't enjoy them too much, I'd probably not buy them unless they were on special offer.  I'd be more likely to buy them too in the future, when Madam has all her teeth! :)

Feel free to leave a comment if you've tried this cereal, or if you're likely to try it after reading this. x