Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate cereal – Koko Krunch for adults?

I’m not a fan of processed foods. Or let’s put it this way: If and when I do eat processed foods, I don’t like to tell the whole world because I feel so darn guilty about it.

But until I actually start making homemade granola, I eat breakfast cereal from a box on the mornings my toddler Asher is not with me. With fresh full milk – not low-fat, not skimmed. To make myself feel as if I’ve made a healthy choice, I choose “less-processed” cereals made with whole grains and real fruit, and add a scoop of chia seeds to my bowl for my daily dose of Omega-3 acids and whatnot.

I’ve not changed this routine until the good folks from Nestle delivered a box of Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate for us to sample. I was quite sceptical at first. Ha, another sugared cereal with chocolate flavouring! I pompously thought. Until I poured it out, tried it and compared what was on the box with my regular brand of breakfast cereal.

Dear readers, I hereby present my two-pronged review for your perusal.

Taste:

1. How Nestle managed to achieve this nice, rich, toasty chocolatey taste with fat-reduced cocoa powder, I will never know. Like Koko Krunch, it made my milk a bit chocolatey. That’s a plus.
2. The cereal flakes are half regular, half chocolate-flavoured so my sweet tooth didn’t fall off. That’s a plus.
3. The flakes stay crunchy even after being immersed in milk for more than half an hour. That’s a plus!
4. The only minus: I wish there were some nuts inside. Like maybe almond flakes or hazelnut halves? There’s another flavour called “Clusters Almond” but there are no chocolate-flavour coated flakes inside. That’s a minus.

Nutrition:

1. Each gram of Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate contains only 3.67 kcal. That’s 3 per cent fewer calories than my usual breakfast cereal!
2. It is low in fat – contains only 3g of fat per 100g of cereal. My regular cereal contains 6g of fat per 52g of cereal. Unfortunately, that’s where the plus point on nutrition ends. My regular cereal, which contains dried fruit and nuts, contains less sugar, more protein, more whole grains and more dietary fibre than Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate.
3. About the whole grains: Nestle uses 46g of whole grain to produce 100g of this cereal; my regular cereal contains 36g per 52g of product.
4. Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate cereal contains eight vitamins and minerals including calcium, iron and vitamin E; my regular breakfast cereal contains 12 vitamins and minerals. Not that I am keeping count, to be honest.

That said, I somehow feel fuller after eating a bowl of Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate, as compared to a bowl of my regular cereal. I intend to add strawberries to my cereal tomorrow for added dietary fibre and check out the Honey & Almond and Clusters Almond flavours the next time I go to the supermarket!

If you are over 18 years of age with a BMI of more than 23 and without medical condition, Nestle has a suggested 14-day programme where you replace breakfast and one other meal with a whole-grain cereal such as Nestle Fitnesse.

Nestle Fitnesse Chocolate in a nutshell:
What – Chocolate-flavoured whole wheat flakes
Price – $6.70 at major supermarkets
For more info – https://www.facebook.com/NestleFitnesseSingapore