Have you jumped onto the porridge bandwagon, believing you’re giving yourself the healthiest start to the day? If so, you’re not alone. According to Mintel a quarter of Britons eat porridge very day, with sales of hot cereals nearly doubling between 2008 and 2013.You only have to look at the hot cereals section in the supermarkets to see the shelves heaving with all manner of porridge oats. You’ll still find a good selection of traditional porridge oats. But these days many of us are more likely to head for the instant varieties. They’re quick to make, transportable and offer a variety of choices for those who want more than plain porridge oats.
Extra ingredients include added fruits, nuts and that big baddie SUGAR! Too much sugar is highly detrimental to good health. So how much sugar are you getting in your morning porridge oats?
To help you see at a glance how much sugar is in your porridge, I’ve compiled a list of 61 varieties of instant porridge pots which can be found in supermarkets and other stores in the UK. All these porridge pots are made by adding hot water only. Milk powder, sugar and other ingredients are included in the pot with the oats.
The list below shows the pot size, number of teaspoons of sugar and how many calories in each pot of porridge. The list is in the order of the amount of sugar. Those highlighted in red are classified as HIGH sugar, while those highlighted in amber are medium sugar.
Sugar in Porridge Pots
Porridge Pot Brand
|
Pot
Size (g) |
Teaspoons of Sugar per Pot
|
Calories
Per Pot |
Marks & Spencer Ready in 2 minutes Porridge
|
55
|
1.3
|
225
|
Nairn's Gluten Free Easy Porridge Pot
|
50
|
1.4
|
191
|
Oomf! Skinny Oats Instant Porridge Berry Blast Pot
|
50
|
1.7
|
193
|
Oomf! Skinny Oats Instant Porridge Original Pot
|
50
|
1.7
|
193
|
Oomf! Skinny Oats Instant Porridge Golden Syrup Pot
|
50
|
1.8
|
193
|
Peppa Pig Instant Banana Flavour Porridge
|
33
|
1.8
|
129
|
Peppa Pig Instant Golden Syrup Flavour Porridge
|
33
|
1.8
|
130
|
Tesco Free From Porridge Pot Original
|
48
|
1.9
|
180
|
Peppa Pig Instant Strawberry Flavour Porridge
|
33
|
1.9
|
126
|
Moma! Plain - no added sugar Porridge Pot
|
70
|
2.0
|
256
|
Sainsbury's Express Porridge Pot Original
|
55
|
2.1
|
205
|
Tesco Free From Porridge Pot Syrup Flavour
|
48
|
2.1
|
180
|
ASDA Chosen by You Golden Syrup Instant Porridge Pot
|
50
|
2.2
|
200
|
Tesco Original Porridge Pots
|
55
|
2.4
|
210
|
Grasshopper Fruity Porridge Coconut & Date
|
60
|
2.4
|
226
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Original Porridge Pot
|
50
|
2.7
|
190
|
Scott's So-Easy Original Porage Oats Pot
|
50
|
2.7
|
183
|
ASDA Chosen by You Apple & Blueberry Instant Porridge
|
50
|
2.7
|
196
|
ASDA Chosen by You Red Fruits Instant Porridge
|
50
|
2.8
|
206
|
Perkier Apple Cinnamon & Raisin Porridge Pot Gluten Free
|
65
|
2.8
|
233
|
Kellogg's Multi-Grain Porridge Simply Original Pots
|
50
|
2.9
|
194
|
Stoats Classic Scottish porridge quick pot
|
60
|
2.9
|
199
|
Kellogg's Multi-Grain Porridge Almond & Honey Pot
|
50
|
3.1
|
195
|
Kellogg's Multi-Grain Porridge Red Berries Porridge Pot
|
50
|
3.1
|
194
|
ASDA Chosen by You Original Instant Porridge
|
50
|
3.2
|
211
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Caramel Flavour Porridge Pot
|
57
|
3.2
|
208
|
Perkier Fruit Berry Porridge Pot Gluten free
|
65
|
3.2
|
234
|
Grasshopper Fruity Porridge Cinnamon & Raisin
|
60
|
3.3
|
239
|
Stoats cranberry& blueberry porridge quick pot
|
60
|
3.4
|
202
|
Tesco Golden Syrup Porridge Pots
|
55
|
3.4
|
210
|
Morrisons Instant Porridge Oats Pot
|
55
|
3.5
|
217
|
Stoats apple & cinnamon porridge quick pot
|
60
|
3.6
|
201
|
Quaker Oats So Simple Heaps Of Fruit Summer Berries Pot
|
70
|
3.6
|
217
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Honey & Vanilla Porridge Pot
|
57
|
3.7
|
213
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Apple & Cherry Porridge Pot
|
58
|
3.8
|
219
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Banana & Strawberry Porridge Pot
|
58
|
3.8
|
218
|
Alpen Fruit & Nut Porridge Pot
|
60
|
3.8
|
239
|
Alpen Maple & Pecan Porridge Pot
|
60
|
3.8
|
244
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Chocolate Crunch Porridge Pot
|
69
|
3.8
|
275
|
Moma! Original Porridge Pot
|
70
|
3.8
|
295
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Apple & Blueberry Porridge Pot
|
57
|
3.8
|
214
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Sweet Cinnamon Porridge Pot
|
57
|
3.9
|
214
|
Grasshopper Fruity Porridge with Cane Sugar
|
60
|
3.9
|
217
|
Fuel Golden Syrup Instant Porridge Pot
|
60
|
3.9
|
221
|
Oatburst Instant Porridge Snack Original Oats
|
64
|
3.9
|
250
|
Fuel Forest Fruits Instant Porridge Pot
|
60
|
3.9
|
221
|
Sainsbury's Express Porridge Pot Apple & Cinnamon
|
64
|
3.9
|
239
|
Quaker Oat So Simple Golden Syrup Porridge Pot
|
57
|
4.0
|
212
|
Fuel Apple & Cinnamon Instant Porridge Pot
|
60
|
4.0
|
221
|
Alpen Blueberry, Cranberry & Nuts Porridge Pot
|
60
|
4.0
|
239
|
Morrisons Instant Golden Syrup Porridge Oats Pot
|
55
|
4.1
|
216
|
Moma! Golden Syrup Porridge Pot
|
75
|
4.2
|
277
|
Alpen Raspberry, Apple & Raisin Porridge Pot
|
60
|
4.3
|
236
|
Oatburst Instant Porridge Snack Strawberries & Cream
|
64
|
4.5
|
285
|
Sainsbury's Apricot & Ginger Porridge Pot, Taste the Difference
|
72
|
4.6
|
261
|
Morrisons Instant Red Fruits Porridge Oats Pot
|
55
|
4.7
|
215
|
Moma! Cranberry & Raisin Porridge Pot
|
76
|
4.9
|
274
|
Sainsbury's Express Porridge Pot Golden Syrup
|
64
|
5.0
|
242
|
Pronto Banana Pot Porridge Mix
|
60
|
5.7
|
210
|
Pronto Cinnamon Pot Porridge Mix
|
60
|
5.7
|
210
|
Oatburst Instant Porridge Snack Maple Syrup Flavour Pot
|
64
|
6.3
|
256
|
*Note some sugar is naturally occurring in the dried fruits or milk powder.
M&S Ready in 2 Minutes Porridge
 |
| 1.3 Spoons Sugar per pot (225 calories) |
Nairn's Gluten Free Easy Porridge
 |
| 1.4 Spoons Sugar per pot (191 calories) |
Perkier Gluten Free Porridge
 |
| 2.8 - 3.2 Spoons Sugar per Pot (233 & 234 calories) |
Peppa Pig Porridge
 |
| 1.8 - 1.9 Spoons Sugar per pot (126 - 130 calories) |
Scott's So-Easy Porage Oats Special K Porridge
 |
| 2.7 Spoons Sugar (183 calories) |
 |
| 3.1 Spoons Sugar (195 calories) |
Alpen Porridge
 |
| 3.1 Spoons Sugar (239 calories) |
 |
| 3.8 Spoons Sugar (244 calories) |
Kellogg's Special K Multi-Grain Porridge
 |
| 2.9 Spoons Sugar (194 calories) |
 |
| 3.1 Spoons Sugar (194 calories) |
Quaker Oat So Simple Porridge
 |
| 3.8 Spoons Sugar (219 calories) |
 |
| 2.7 Spoons Sugar (190 calories) |
 |
| 3.8 Spoons Sugar (218 calories) |
 |
| 3.9 Spoons Sugar (214 calories) |
Morrisons Porridge
 |
| 4.1 Spoons Sugar (216 calories) |
 |
| 4.7 Spoons Sugar (215 calories) |
MOMA! Porridge
 |
| 2.4 - 4.9 Spoons Sugar (256 - 274 calories) |
OOMF! Skinny Oats Porridge
 |
| 1.7-1.8 Spoons Sugar (193 calories) |
Oat Burst Instant Porridge
 |
| 3.9 - 4.5 Spoons Sugar per pot (250 - 285 calories) |
Sainsbury's Express Porridge
 |
| 4.6-5.0 Spoons Sugar (205 - 261 calories) |
* Note: All nutritional values are correct as at date of publishing and are subject to change at manufacturers' discretion.
Though these porridge pots are undoubtedly tasty, many do contain a high amount of sugar. How much is too much? Well, anything over 15g per 100g of product is high - that's about 3.5 teaspoons of sugar. If you take a look at Guidelines to Healthy Amounts of Fat, Sugar and Salt, you can see the recommended amount of sugar for women, men and children in the tables displayed.
It's great that so many of us are eating porridge, but let's not ruin its health benefits by overdoing the sugar. If you are following a low GL diet (see post), porridge made traditionally with milk or water has a low GL score (your blood sugar levels will remain stable). But too much sugar means this is no longer the case.
If you're only concerned with calories, all of the porridge oats listed above should fit in well with a weight loss diet and hopefully this list can help you make an informed choice!
If you're only concerned with calories, all of the porridge oats listed above should fit in well with a weight loss diet and hopefully this list can help you make an informed choice!
Bon Apetit!
© Diets and Calories