20120311 - Nutritional balance of bran breakfast cereals - 2012

[Data]

[<Normal page] [PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2012). Nutritional balance of bran breakfast cereals. Journal of Knowledge Advancement & Integration (ISSN 1177-4576), 2012, pages 94-96.]

Bran-based breakfast cereals' BNI

Perezgonzalez assessed the nutritional balance of bran in 2012, as part of a research on breakfast cereals in New Zealand.

Bran and bran-based cereals had, on average, a nutritional balance of BNI 121.81fb, being particularly biased towards excess of fiber. It was adequate in carbohydrate and saturated fat, high in protein, sugar and sodium, and low in fat.

Illustration 1: Nutrition information (bran)

BNI	121.81fb	0.00

Food, 100g	2012	Ideal
Protein	14.3	11.3
Carbohydrate	33.1	31.1
Sugar	10.5	< 5.7
Fat	4.1	6.3
Saturated fat	0.7	< 0.7
Fiber	37.4	3.4
Sodium	0.270	< 0.227
Kcal	226.5	226.5
kJul	947.7	947.7

Illustration 2: Nutritional profile (bran)

125%				*
~				~
100%				*
95%				*
90%				*
85%				*
80%				*
75%				*
70%				*
65%				*
60%		*		*
55%		*		*
50%		*		*
45%		*		*
40%		*		*
35%		*		*
30%		*		*
25%	*	*		*
20%	*	*		*
15%	*	*	*	*
10%	*	*	*	*
5%	*	*	*	*
mid	p	c	f	fb
max		s	sf		na
5%		*	*		*
10%		*			*
15%		*			*
20%		*

ideal % = grey cells; actual % = asterisk (*)

International standards

Bran-based breakfast cereals appeared as extremely unbalanced according to international Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs).

Illustration 3: Nutritional balance across international RDIs

Bran	(diet)	128.81	162.21	105.51	110.77	185.55

Product100g	Company	BNI	WHO	US/CAN	AUS/NZ	UK
All-Bran original	Kellogg's	97.55	126.52	91.06	88.57	140.72
Healtheries bran flakes	Healtheries	128.74	174.33	122.61	117.04	214.57
Brantastix	Hubbards	129.23	163.49	94.89	120.94	187.98
Home Brand natural brand	Woolworths	131.80	176.03	115.38	120.79	201.91
San Bran	Sanitarium	156.01	195.54	138.99	142.51	210.83
(Source: Perezgonzalez, 2012²)

Methods

Research approach

Exploratory study.

Data

The initial research sample included 79 breakfast cereals (ie, oats, wheat, rice, corn, bran and muesli)², collected in a convenient manner. The results in this study simply describe the 'subsample' of bran-based breakfast cereals within the original sample: ie, 5 products.

Materials & analysis

Relevant data were collated, then assessed using the Balanced Nutrition Index™ (BNI™) technology (see Perezgonzalez, 2011¹). SPSS-v18 was used for the computation of variables, including BNI and international indexes, and statistical analyses.

Generalization potential

Most of the products were produced locally, although some may have been imported or exported, especially from and to Australia, respectively. Thus, the results of this study may be generalizable to the following populations (in order of decreasing generalization power):

Australia.
Internationally, if one assumes oat products to be of approximately similar nutritional composition anywhere.

References

1. PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2011). Balanced Nutrition Index™ (BNI™). Journal of Knowledge Advancement & Integration (ISSN 1177-4576), 2011, pages 20-21. Also retrievable from Wiki of Science.

2. PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2012). Breakfast cereals. The Balanced Nutrition Index (ISSN 1177-8849), 2012, issue 3. (Retrievable from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/BNI)

Want to know more?

BNI™ database: The database offers individual nutrition analyses for foods, including the food referred to in above article.
BNI™ journal (2012, issue 3) - Breakfast cereals: This issue of the Balanced Nutrition Index™ journal collates all BNI™ nutrition information for the original sample in a single book.
Wiki of Science - Nutritional balance of foods: This Wiki of Science page collates information about several foods on a single page and provides useful links to the appropiate files.