Breakfast
Small and consistent steps...
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Breakfast could be a good start to wean your kids off UPF’s as it's probably the path of least resistance. ​It’s also the meal where you don’t have to plan ahead or think about too much. You’ll have it all bought in the weekly shop and as long as there’s plenty of milk, bread, cereals, eggs, fruit, they won’t go hungry. However breakfast is the meal that sets them up for the day.
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What you can do to feed your kids the good stuff at breakfast​:
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Know the breakfast foods you’ll buy and those UPF’s you definitely won’t - if it’s not in the house, they can’t eat it
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Don’t take your kids grocery shopping with you
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Don’t be tempted to buy UPF’s as ‘a special treat’ for the school holidays. UPF’s are not a treat.
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Feed your kids a good stuff breakfast.
With my grandkids, the go-to breakfast each weekday depends on the kid.
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One likes fruit, or fruit and yoghurt, another likes dippy egg and soldier toast, the 6 year old wants a bowl of cereal, another one wants raisin toast or crumpets. The Year 9 one doesn't eat breakfast, so recess has to be good.
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Weekends, there’s sometimes time for pancakes and Sunday morning bacon, eggs and hash browns.
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You don’t have to change what type of breakfast your kids like to eat, just swap out the UPF’s they might be eating now with the good stuff.
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Below, I’ll list some of the good stuff breakfast food and some What the UPF’s…!
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There’s so much on the shelves and new products every time I look so I can’t cover everything. If you find more of the good stuff, let me know and I’ll happily add them.
Cereals
I feel overwhelmed in the cereal aisle – it’s ginormous. My supermarket website lists around100 cereals. For each cereal the supermarket lists the Ingredients, the Nutrition Information and the cost per 100g for each cereal. This is handy if you don’t want to stand in the aisles reading labels and are short on bed time reading.
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Interesting that some of the most expensive cereals are the UPF ones (Nutri-Grain, Coco Pops, Froot Loops) yet they seem to use the cheapest ingredients.
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With cereals, I look for wholegrain or wholemeal, low sugar (less than 10g per 100g), low sodium (less than 350-400g per 100g) and high fibre (8g or more per 100g).
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The lists here (and on all my pages) are not exhaustive...
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Cereals
What the UPF…!
Definitely not buying these:
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Crunchy Nut Cornflakes
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Kellogg’s Coco Pops
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Kellogg's Coco Pops Chocos Multigrain
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Kellogg’s Coco Pops Pillows
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Kellogg’s Frosties
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Kellogg’s Froot Loops
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Nestle Milo Cereal
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Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain
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Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Clusters
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Uncle Toby’s Cherrios
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Uncle Toby’s Cherrios Honey Breakfast
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Nestle Nesquik Cereal
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Nestle Kit-Kat Breakfast Cereal
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Sanitarium Weet-Bix Honey & Golden Oats
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Nestle Milo Protein Wholegrain
Cereals
The good stuff
​​​Just add milk and fruit on top:
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Sanitarium Weet-Bix
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Rolled oats (but not the prepackaged ones that have additives) – add milk and 2 minutes in the microwave
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Uncle Toby’s Original Shredded Wheat
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Carman’s Toasted Muesli Original Fruit Free
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Coles Weet Biscuits
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Kellogg’s Just Right Wheat Flakes
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Uncle Toby's Wheeties
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Vita Brits
Breads 'n Spreads
Most breads are an ultra processed food but bread manufacturers have come to the party and are providing better quality bread.
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Nutritional organisations state that good supermarket breads are a good source of vitamins and minerals, plant protein and an excellent source of fibre (remember fibre helps keep the kids feeling full and their bowels moving nicely – so nicely that I see evidence every time I wipe 6 year old’s little butt).
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The most nutritious is wholegrain/wholemeal as the whole of the grain has been used; multigrain is made from a variety of grains but may not include the wholegrain. White bread is made from white flour. Go for wholemeal/wholegrain if you can.
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I have found from my research that the breads listed below have been rated as nutritious and high in fibre.
White
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Wonder 5 Star White (11.6g fibre/100g)
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Wonder White Sandwich Vitamins and Minerals (8.1g fibre/100g)
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Tip Top The One White Toast Bread (7.6g fibre/100g)
Multigrain
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Tip Top 9 Grain Wholemeal Sandwich (8.7g fibre/100g)
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Wonder White Smooth Wholegrain (7.4g fibre/100g)
Wholemeal
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Bergen Wholemeal & Seeds (8.3g fibre/100g)
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Wonder Wholemeal Sandwich with Iron (7.6g fibre/100g)
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Tip Top The One Wholemeal (8.2g fibre/100g)
The good stuff
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Butter
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Mayvers Peanut Butter – all types (Smooth, Crunchy, Extra Crunchy)
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Coles Organic Smooth Peanut Butter
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Macro Peanut Butter
(Woolworths Home Brand) -
Simply Nuts by Bega Smooth Peanut Butter
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Pic’s Peanut Butter
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Fix and Fogg Peanut Butter
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St Dalfour Jam
Spreads
Spreads
Crumpets
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Curmpets are one of those foods that are borderline – mostly real ingredients but have some additives. They’re OK but not that filling - not much fibre and a lot of sodium.
What the UPF…!
Definitely not buying these!
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Margarine (can easily be mistaken for butter, be careful)
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Nutella
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Coles Smooth Peanut Butter
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Bega Smooth and Crunchy Peanut Butter
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Skippy Peanut Butter
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Cottees Jam
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Coles Jam
English muffins
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Like breads, English muffins are ultra processed but they can also provide protein, fibre and added vitamins and minerals.
These are some of the best ones:
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Tip Top Muffins English Original
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Tip Top Muffins English Wholemeal
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Tip Top Muffins Multigrain
Update on Vegemite: the jury's out on vegemite - it's very high in sodium and has additives. It's an UPF. ​But I can't see us giving up vegemite any time soon. The best advice I've read is to spread sparingly and not eat it every day.
Eggs
All eggs are the good stuff
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The research suggests that all eggs (caged, free range, pasture-raised) have roughly the same nutritional value.
Eggs are great to give your kids for breakfast. Eggs are a superfood - excellent source of protein, choline, vitamins and minerals. Amongst other benefits, they're great for brain function and energy.
Bacon
Bacon is not healthy
It’s called ‘Processed meat’ for a reason.
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Bacon's high in saturated fat and very high in sodium with nitrates and nitrites thrown in to preserve color and extend shelf life.
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These nitrites/nitrates are nasty as they can form cancer-causing compounds when exposed to high heat.
Bacon can also contain other additives like MSG, sodium erythorbate and sodium phosphate.
Most of my reading says to limit bacon to 1 – 2 times a week.
You can get free range nitrate- free bacon but I’ve only seen it online and it’s pricey.
Hashbrowns
Only for every now and then...
Whilst most of the frozen hash browns in the supermarket are 88% potatoes, the remainder is canola oil, salt and dextrose.
The problem with canola oil (also known as rapeseed oil) is that it has been refined, bleached and deodorised using a variety of chemicals. Dextrose is a type of sugar and can be used as a preservative.
Cheese
What the UPF…!
Definitely not buying these!
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Coles Simply Sandwich Slices
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The Laughing Cow cheese wedges
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Coles Cheese Triangles
On grated/shredded cheese nearly all of the ones I’ve looked at have anti-caking agents and preservatives.
I’ll be grating my own from now on.
Cheese
The good stuff
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Block cheese
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Cheer Tasty Cheese Slices
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Bega Cheese Slices
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Bega Stringer
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Babybel
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Coles Cheesy Peelers
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Coles Vintage Cheese Slices
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Kraft Bluey Cheese Sticks
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The Organic Milk Co. Organic Shredded Cheddar (in the freezer section)
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Croissants
What the UPF…!
Definitely not buying these!
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Coles Croissants (other than the frozen one in the Good Stuff list)
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Toscano French Croissants
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Woolworths Large Butter Croissant 10 pack
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Woolworths Large Croissants 4 pack
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Woolworths Mini Croissant 8 pack
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Bakery Du Jour All Butter Croissants 12 pack
Croissants
The good stuff:
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Woolworths All Butter Croissants: 3-4 pack
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Coles Frozen Bake At Home Butter Croissants 6 Pack
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Juice
Juice isn’t great for your kids - there’s no fibre and it’s very high in sugar (about 5 teaspoons per glass).
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Beware Reconstituted Juice in the Ingredients List which means the fruit has been ultra processed with not only loss of nutrients but also contains additives.
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More reading here.
Juice
What the UPF…!
Definitely not buying these!
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Daily Juice
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Just Juice
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Golden Circle
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Ocean Spray
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Coles brand
Juice
The good stuff if your kids have to have juice:
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Nudie
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Original Juice Co
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Impressed
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H2 Juice
Milks
The research is inconclusive about whether full cream V’s low-fat milk – both are nutritious. The consensus seems to be that full cream milk helps kids feel fuller.
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Devondale Full Cream Milk
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Norco Full Cream Milk
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Coles Full Cream Milk
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Dairy Farmers Full Cream Milk
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Norco Low Fat Milk
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Devondale Light Milk
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Coles Lite Milk
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Dairy Farmers Lite White
​What the UPF plant based milk
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Sanitarium So Good Long Life Unsweetened Almond Milk
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Bonsoy Almond Milk
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Vitasoy Unsweetened Almond Milk
​The good stuff - Plant based milk
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Pureharvest Unsweetened almond milk
Flavoured milk powders
The kids love their Milo and yours probably do too. They might rebel if it disappeared from your pantry.
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These are the best chocolate milk powders. They’re still very high in sugar and some have additives but these ones are also fortified with vitamins and minerals.
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Ovaltine
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Milo
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Horlicks
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Fangks
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Sustagen
Flavoured milk drinks
​Dairy Associations around the world will spruke their flavoured milk drinks as a good way for kids who don’t like plain milk, to get their calcium and other vitamins. The problem is that flavoured milk drinks are UPF’s.
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If you look at any of their ingredients and Nutrition Information lists, you'll see how loaded with bad stuff they are. It’s easy to see they’re artificial – how does it get so pink!
This is another one I’ll leave to you. The brands the kids like are UPF's and loaded with sugar. There are better ones in the supermarkets but they don’t seem to go for them.​
Hot drinking chocolate
​What the UPF
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Jarrah Classic Hot Chocolate
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Cadbury Instant Hot Chocolate 6 pack
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Lindt Hot Chocolate Flake Milk Tin
The good stuff chocolate powder (high sugar though)
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Pana Organic Hot Chocolate – all types
Best of the UPF's
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Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate
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Yoghurts
Good yoghurt is good for kids but as with most foods, some have been UPF’d to cash in on the kid market.
There’s so many flavours, styles (plain, Greek, Greek-style, flavoured, creamy, and types of containers (large tubs, single serves, multipacks and pouches ) that does my head in.
Full fat Greek plain yoghurt is recommended as the best nutrition-wise. But there are also some reasonable flavoured yoghurts though they do have an additive or two. Look mostly for natural ingredients and low sugar.
We’ve been positioned to buy the squeezy pouch but these are a lot more expensive – in some cases, more than double the price of the tubs.
Also be aware that food manufacturers put out different ranges of yoghurt and not all types of yoghurt made by that particular manufacturer are the same. The fancier the yoghurt, the more likely that it's an UPF.
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Yoghurts
What the UPF…!​
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Yoplait flavoured yoghurts
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Pauls flavoured yoghurts
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Coles brand flavoured yoghurts
Yoghurts
Yoghurts with one or two additives​
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Jalna Pot Set Greek Style Sweet & Creamy Strawberry Yoghurt
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Jalna Pot Set Sweet And Creamy Greek Style Coconut Flavoured Yoghurt
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Tamar Valley Kids (all flavours except Tropical) – these pouches however are very expensive
Yoghurts
The good stuff​
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Jalna Greek Style Natural Yoghurt
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Jalna Pot Set Yoghurt Natural Greek
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Farmers Union Greek Style Yoghurt
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Chobani Greek Yoghurt
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Tamar Valley Greek Yoghurt
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Jalna Pot Set Yoghurt Vanilla