You may have noticed an uproar on Facebook last week about these new Coco Pops chocolate drinks.
These drinks have made the ‘green light’ category for Australian school canteens. That means it’s classified as a healthy food. Ummmm…. right.
Here is what Kellogs have to say: “With over 400,000 Australian kids and one in four adolescents skipping breakfast, Kellogg’s breakfast drinks are the latest in a series of innovations by the company aimed at helping parents find a way to give their families breakfast. We know it’s hard for many Australian parents in the morning when you’ve got bags to pack, lunchboxes to fill and school buses that won’t wait,” said Kellogg marketing director John Broome. “We believe Kellogg’s breakfast drinks offer a quick and easy, mess-free solution that can be enjoyed at home or on-the-go. Both Kellogg’ breakfast drinks are low GI, high protein and high fibre and contain around 10% sugar with the majority of that coming from low-fat milk in which sugar is found naturally.”
Here are the ingredients of the Coco Pops drink: Reduced fat milk (90%), sugar, skim milk powder, vegetable fibre (inulin), cocoa, flavours, stabilisers (460, 466, 407), minerals (calcium carbonate, iron), acidity regulators (339, 332), vitamins (niacin, vitamin D, folate, vitamin B6, riboflavin, thiamin).
And here is the nutrition information:
| Per Serve 250 ml | Per 100 g | |
| KilojoulesCalories | 740176 | 30071 |
| Protein, g | 9.8 | 3.9 |
| Total fat, gSaturated fat, g | 3.22.2 | 1.30.9 |
| Carbohydrate, gSugars, gLactose, g | 24.524.513.8 | 9.89.85.5 |
| Dietary fibre, g | 4.5 | 1.8 |
| Sodium, mg | 150 | 60 |
There is so much wrong here I don’t really know where to start.
Okay, let’s do some quick dot points of what I take offence to as a natural, new age mum.
- Get up earlier and eat breakfast. It’s that simple! You don’t need to drink your breakfast in the car.
- At best this is a treat food for kids, not a breakfast food.
- A mess-free solution? Really? We can’t wash up a few bowls and spoons now? We need a disposable solution?
- This product is heat-treated milk (UHT – ultra high treated). I try to avoid UHT milk for these reasons.
- Reduced-fat milk is not healthy! Kids should be having full fat milk.
- Sugar is the second ingredient and comes in at a whopping 24.5g per serve. That is a lot of sugar for a little body to process.
- Inulin is a questionable substance and one I am not too keen on.
- Flavours! Right there – that could be anything and everything!
- Lots of numbers! They may be listed as safe but I don’t like my kids eating lots of numbers.
- Probably synthetic vitamins. Processed food usually contains synthetic vitamins added back in after all the goodness is stripped out of a food.
- Cashing in on the ‘Coco Pops’ brand – there are no actual Coco Pops in this drink. Confusing for kids.
- Expensive! Fruit, oats, eggs are all cheaper than this.
Okay, I had my rant. Whew! I feel better now! But, I won’t just leave it there, I have eight better options for you. Real food options. I mean, who doesn’t love a chocolately drink right? Just make a real food one.
Quirky Cooking’s Creamy Dairy Free Hot Chocolate
Quirky Cooking’s Green Chocolate Smoothie
Superfood for Kidz Choc Berry Chunk Powder in milk or milk substitute
Alexx Stuart’s Super Speedy Chocolate Breakfast Shake
Alexx Stuart’s I Can’t Believe It’s Not Milo
Crio Bru – brewed organic cacao (hot or cold)
I would love to know what you think about the Coco Pops drinks and if you have any other links or ideas for a healthy chocolate drink.
Talk to me.
Reckon I agree with all of your objections. Low-fat, UHT milk loaded with sugar, synthetic vitamins and god knows what other rubbish to trick your tastebuds into thinking you’re getting nourishment… THIS is what’s wrong with the world.
I would rather my kid have a plain carton of regular milk than drink this crap. I used to drink those weet bix up and go things out of laziness. Never again.
Also, it reminds me of Pinky McKay’s comments on parents not prioritising their kids. Are our kids not important enough to make breakfast for them any more? Can’t we even boil them an egg the night before and chuck it in the fridge? No bananas in the fruit bowl?
I totally agree. For some families it just isn’t a priority and that’s okay because it’s their decision. My decision is to make cooking healthy food a priority and we see the benefits, big time!
I have a question regarding Inulin. Im wondering what your concern with this fibre is. I have just looked it up ( and of course source may be wrong) but i think Inulin is in coconut sugar and has a low GI. I notice that your yummy nuts have coconut sugar ..so now im confused if this is good to eat or not
Thankyou
my husband thinks i sound like a pain …sorry !!!!
Tell Mr Turner you are not a pain at all!!!! It’s always good to ask questions! I don’t know all the answers so I am always asking. I have read that inulin comes from root vegetables and is a bit suss. This is what makes me suss – http://www.naturalnews.com/022356_inulin_food_ingredients.html
I just don’t get how it’s going to fill you up. Oh probably the inulin! Arrggh!
Sonia, I was horrified when I saw the add on TV and had the exact same reaction as you. What a croc of sh1t!!!!!!!
HA! Eloquently put Linz!
Who buys these thing? Someone must be! I agree with Jasmine…we don’t have time to make our kids breakfast anymore? Time to think about priorities for sure.
Surely it takes no more than half an hour to make and eat a decent breakfast. Why is that so hard to organize?
There are soooo many things wrong with this, I couldn’t agree more! I’d love to pare it back to a really simple question for parents who might think this is a good idea. If they put some milk, a couple of spoons of sugar and a pinch of cocoa in a drink bottle and shook it up, would they think that was an Ok breakfast for their kids? I certainly wouldn’t, at least though it would be an additive free, much cheaper and considered choice!
I know right – I mean chocolate milk to my kids is a treat and something they might have as an afternoon snack or dessert, not breakfast on it’s own!
Great post. I hate hate hate the Coco Pops drinks. Seethe… I’ve been making Alexx’s speedy breakfast shake for myself and have pinned this for more ideas. Thanks for putting it all together for us 🙂
My pleasure – can’t rant without alternatives!
O my!! I too was totally outraged when I saw the ad for the CocoPops Breakfast drink… and I had to think ~ who buys these products believing it’s ok to give it to your child??? Or for yourself, for that matter! Very happy to read your kindred-post 🙂 (love your work, by the way!!) xx
thanks Jules ! my thoughts exactly
Yuk!!
Green (choc) smoothies are the go in our house every morning – they take no time at all to whizz up in the Thermie. They usually accompany something to eat, too! I made this one for today’s brekkie accompaniment and I used half/half cacao/carob – it is SO delicious!
http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com/2009/08/chocolate-or-carob-almond-smoothie.html?m=1
I see so many kids walking to school eating chips and/or soft drinks for “breakfast”, I feel like I need to take them and their parents in hand!!! Sigh.
I know, I know! We live near a mini supermarket and a high school – they get a large coke and a packet of chips for breakfast. I nearly cry.
That’s not breakfast, that is dessert!…. with a side of numbers and flavours.
If only all mumma’s knew it was a fail. Sadly, I think there are probably many who think they’re doing ok by their kid, feeding them this garbage.
I think a lot of people are confused by the slick marketing! It’s time consuming learning about all this stuff too!
I make a hot chocolate for my StepDaughters & they love it! I use raw milk, cacao, cinnamon & rapadura.
Yum! My kids quite often just have that as well – must remember the cinnamon tip. Thanks Emma. 🙂
Honesty is always appreciated and thanks so much for alternatives x x I don’t get the no breakfast thing either, it’s the first thing we do.
Brekky is nearly the high point of my day! Love it!
I get parents saying how do you have time to make pancakes on a school morning ? I wake up around 6:00am enough time if the kids get organised while I am cooking (sometimes I make the mixture the night before).
Definitely!! It’s all in the priorities.
I totally agree with you. This is expensive crap “food”. There is no way I would let my kiddies have it. I couldn’t believe they would try to sell a product like this as a healthy breakfast. I first saw it on morning tv and was disgusted by it. 5 teaspoons of sugar in one popper. I am appalled that schools are going to sell this rubbish in their canteens.
What annoys me is that these big multinational companies are preying on mums and families and exploiting their weak points. It makes me furious!
I haven’t seen mainstream tv in about a year and it looks like after reading your post that nothing has changed!
When are people going to wake up to the garbage that is being masqueraded in front of us pretending to be food?!
Love your posts Sonia- always an entertaining read!
Alex
I don’t watch a lot of TV and haven’t seen the ad !! I just saw it all over FAcebook !! Thanks Alex 🙂
Hi ..im just wondering who is the department/organisation that gives this product the green light in schools. Sorry if you have already stated. Cant believe it ! Thanks for all the break down. Looks discusting
Thankyou
apparently there is a national canteens guidelines committee – government health department?
I’m still learning about all the bad things in the foods we eat but even before educating myself I would never allow my children to consume these kinds of drinks and I’m shocked they are allowing them into our schools. I usually don’t even let my children have fruit boxes if I can avoid it because of all the nasties in.
Fruit boxes !! Arggh!! Don’t get me started! Similar problem – heat treated and then synthetic vitamins added back in!
Thank you so much for offering alternatives! I can understand that some people would look at these on face value (as in what they are told about them and the green light) and think they are doing the right thing buying them. That’s where educating people on their choices helps. The info you’ve provided does just this.
I honestly believe more and more people are going back to cooking from scratch. I’ve had two girlfriends contact me today asking for recipes for items they’d normally buy in a jar. They’ve been in my kitchen and seen how easy it is (and heard me tell them how much cheaper it is) to cook from scratch and are now starting their journey.
We can only educate people one at a time BUT we do need to respect their decisions if they choose to stick to the packet mix (not that that’s what you are doing – but it is really easy for any of us to make another Mumma feel bad about themselves for not being educated on this or not providing healthier alternatives. I’ve been guilty of this myself).
Thanks again for an awesome post. I’m bookmarking this for some extra breaky ideas!
Thanks Mrs P! I agree with you. I totally understand about the no judgement thing. I used to drink diet coke and eat packet food until I learnt what was in it and what it was doing to my body. We are all on a learning journey!
I need to rant as well. I work in health promotion for the local government, I sent this article to my work colleagues stating what a joke it was. Our senior public health nutritionist wrote back to me that she actually sits on the national canteens guidelines committee that gave this ridiculous substance the “green light” approval. Stating their reason was that children aren’t getting enough calcium and that the only way to make them drink milk was to have it flavoured. They obviously didn’t teach her at uni that other foods are higher in calcium than milk and that milk is for calf consumption only. I’m still fuming that this committee is informing parents that 25g of sugar is reasonably fine for a growing child. Sorry just needed to rant.
That is so crazy!! Most kids I know will drink straight milk or hello add some fruit and make smoothies! Not a good call!!
Who are the morons at Kellogg’s? Surely there are people making decisions in these large multinational companies. Where is their conscience when creating these products? We need to share common sense info like this blog to give parents the real information they need.
Unfortunately I don’t think they are morons. I think they are very clever but have hearts of stone and are more interested in money than kid’s health. Not sure how they sleep at night!
I agree they don’t sound like green light food at all to me. I however would give my child anything she wanted for breakfast simply because for the last 2 years (1yr old-3yr old) she has barely eaten breakfast (any meal really) and I have tried every breakfast food I can think of, lunch time food and dinner food, desert type foods were even rejected. Thank you for the break down of what this green light food contains, it opens my eyes to all other green light foods and the possibilities there.
That is no good Jay. I am wondering if you have considered sensory issues around food with her? Just a thought.
So if 250ml of reduced fat has 12g of sugar naturally then this has about 3 spoons of extra sugar added, right? How can this get the green light for school canteens? Now see how how scary the red light items are, here’s a selection from our canteen drinks – juice (with added sugar), choc milk and LOLs(?); ice blocks – choc moneys, lemonade ice twists, paddle pops; snacks – honeysoy chips, jelly cups, jam pikelets; lunch – jam/honey sandwich/rolls; hot foods – pizza, chicken chippies, hot dog. There is no restriction on buying any of that junk and my children report that many only buy junk every day all day 🙁
seriously flawed system!!
While I agree with you that these coco pops drinks are full of sugar and definitely a treat food rather than breakfast I am not sure of your comments on UHT milk. We use UHT milk at home as our standard milk as I was sick of buying fresh milk from the supermarket only to have to throw it out when I got home because it was not stored properly in store and was off. It is important to note that the article you reference in regards to your reasons for not drinking UHT is an American article and that we have much stricter food laws in Australia, there are no added ingredients in my UHT milk – just milk, the article also references that products in UHT milk can cause leaky gut syndrome which is incorrect – while these can make it worse foods don’t cause this. I will however be looking into the chemical changes that heat treatment may cause to milk in AUSTRALIA.
Since when did food become a liquid?? I can’t believe the amount of crap that is out there being marketed as ‘healthy’ and ‘good for kids’ (or adults for that matter). As an ex-primary school teacher, I can say it broke my heart watching what some kids came to school with in their lunch boxes. And the parents wondered why they were hyper-active, had major afternoon slumps, couldn’t focus on their school work, and became major behaviour problems. (I won’t even go into the details of the amount of children who were simply diagnosed with ADHD, spectrum of autism or other learning needs because that was easier than facing the truth…there are genuine cases of all of these, but many that are more related to the level of discipline and high fat/high sugar/high numbers/low nutrition foods they eat). This is just one more product that many ill informed parents will give their kids (because the kids will ask for it and the parent wont say no) that will do them more harm than good. I’m glad there are people out there who care more for their families and will help their children make positive food choices, even though this is often more time consuming and ‘difficult’. Thank you to the people who their priorities set right!
Susan – I so agree with the lunchboxes and the behaviour link – I have seen it myself so many times! Then the kids are medicated with even more chemicals – it breaks my heart too. Let’s keep spreading the word !!!
Crazy, Crazy the world has gone crazy if this drink is considered good. What is going on!!!!!Its a worry
I do so agree!!
We are on of those families that struggle with breakfast…. But somehow always manage to at least find bananas or some sort of cereal even in a mad rush.
smoothies save my life!
It can be done!
Ok … So I will admit that I have put these …. among other breakfast drinks … In my shopping trolley…
However … it is not as a breakfast replacement… He has his toast or dry crunchy nut cornflakes lol but My little boy has sensory processing disorder (which limits the items that go into his mouth into literally 5 types of food).. he also has cerebral palsy and is underweight and under the instruction of our paediatrician & dietician we are using these in the process of calorie boosting his meals… as smoothies and normal choc milk are no goes into his mouth unfortunately as they are not one of his safe foods …
I get your perspective .. and don’t get me wrong … in my diet I totally agree… I wouldn’t touch the things … but in my little ones circumstances they prove to be quiet helpful!!
Just thought you would like the opinion of someone from the other side of the fence lol <3
it’s great to have all opinions and I totally respect your choices 🙂
I know it is a bit of a side, but the regulations surrounding school canteens aren’t very ‘good’ (in my opinion, and it is a source of contention between the tuckshop convenor and myself!) A lot of the guidelines revolve around fat levels in food. Generally, ‘green’ foods need to be low fat, but there is very little thought given to sugar, additives or preservatives (and these are often in larger amounts in low fat food, because removing the fat removes a lot of flavour, that they then need to replace). So our canteen can’t sell cartons of full cream milk, but can sell LOL (softdrink, but uses a juice base – still full of crap), slush puppies and brightly coloured iceblocks/icecreams, because they are ‘low fat’. And though some of them are called ‘amber’ foods (i.e. ‘sometimes’ foods), there is no way of regulating how often the children purchase them (and the same children seem to buy them day after day). To become a ‘green’ (or ‘everyday’ food), some companies use artificial sweetner instead of sugar, and a lot of these sweetners have been implicated in long term health problems. It really saddens me that this is what the children get fed, these are their canteen choices. (And that, under the green-amber-red guidelies, parents feel their kids are eating healthy food from the canteen…). Ok, my rant over!
the system is so flawed it’s ridiculous!
I made your home made milo. My kids would absolutely no-way drink it. I started to wonder what I was going to do with it. One morning I put it on my oats, they asked what it was, I told them “chocolate nuts”. They have it every morning on their oats now too! Thank you! 😀 I’m going to give some of the others a go too.
Rhi
Nice one!! You can also use it in smoothies and other things too 🙂