Are you ready? with Leigh Elder

What is the most profitable space per square metre for supermarket owners?

This was a question in a trivia quiz I took part in the other day, and the answer was: the cereal section.

Presuming this trivia question is right, the reason for this is that nearly all cereals are expensive to buy and chock full of simple carbohydrates like corn, rice and wheat flakes, which is a really inexpensive option for manufacturers.

The problem is often these carbohydrate levels are up around the 60-80 per cent mark, and more importantly, sugar is a carbohydrate.

Even though the food label might only show six-15 per cent sugar, the simple carbohydrate is soon converted to sugar by our digestive juices. And plenty of it too, in the form of glucose, the highest ranking sugar for raising blood-sugar levels.

It is not surprising that some of the Kellogg's cereal range, like Nutrigrain (1.5 stars) took a caning in Australia's new 5 star ranking food label system.

Their head honcho nutrition lady, Dr Michelle Celander, hedged when asked about changing the formula for making what she now calls these ‘treat' cereals.

We all know cereal are everyday staples, so it's very convenient PR-speak to change to ‘treats'.

Tricky business this, and I can see some serious revolts coming if parents suddenly take away their kids' beloved cereal options.

My advice would be to balance up this fast-digesting stuff with a small amount of rolled oats and sustaining yoghurt and milk, and add a slice of a dense multigrain toast like Burgen or Vogel's.

When you do pick up a lightweight cereal with high carbohydrate levels, always remember it is destined to end up as glucose.

For more information, email leigh@eatforkeeps.com or phone 027 294 1980.