Dorset Cereals Simply Nutty Muesli
TASTE ★★★ Sweet, crunchy and padded out with brazil nuts and whole almonds. On the packaging, it makes a selling point that raisins have been left out, but dates have been added to give a touch of sweetness instead.
QUALITY ★ Sold as “simply nutty”, yet there are twice as many dates (22%) in this muesli as nuts (10.5%), and the nuts are mainly cheaper, broken brazil nuts — not to everyone’s taste. This product makes a virtue of “no added sugar”, but thanks to those dates and added barley malt extract, it’s still 14% total sugars.
£2.79/700g; dorsetcereals.co.uk
Waitrose Sweet & Crunchy Maple & Nut Muesli
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TASTE ★★ A good helping of sultanas, raisins and dried fruit in this, but, unfortunately, there aren’t that many nuts to be found. It’s sweeter than its rivals, though it has been bulked out by a large amount of oats, which makes it quite dry.
QUALITY NO STARS The front of the packet describes this muesli as “sweet and crunchy” and “maple and nut”, but the “maple” refers to artificial maple flavouring, rather than real maple syrup. And the word “sweet” does flag up a significant concern: almost a fifth (19.3%) of this muesli is sugar — that’s a lot.
£4.89/1kg; waitrose.com
Rude Health Nutty Crunch Muesli
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TASTE ★★★ There’s a range of textures in each mouthful, from soft, smooth flakes to sweeter, crunchier “granola bits” that have been sweetened with honey. However, despite the packaging stating that this muesli is “all about the nuts”, there isn’t an overwhelming amount.
QUALITY ★★★ This muesli isn’t cheap, but has an eclectic, interesting selection of grains — including buckwheat, rye and rice — some toasted, some puffed. The spelt and nuts (almonds and hazelnuts) have been roasted, which deepens their flavour. It does contain sugars from honey, date syrup and unrefined cane juice, but only 5%.
£4.79/450g; rudehealth.com
Editor’s choice
Mornflake Notoriously Nutty Muesli
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TASTE ★★★★ Generous quantities of almonds, pecans, pistachios and hazelnuts, and mixed seeds. The wholegrain cereal flakes have a lovely roasted flavour and, pleasingly, the coconut comes through, though there’s only a hint of the promised apple.
QUALITY ★★★ This muesli contains an ample amount of expensive nuts (18%). There’s also a good mix of wholegrain cereals (oats, wheat and barley), as well as seeds (sunflower and pumpkin), and the only sugar (5%) comes from apple.
£3.85/650g; ocado.com
FEAST OR FAMINE: FIZZY-WATER MAKERS
SodaStream
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A large piece of sleek kit that is very easy to use. Choose from three grades of fizziness, each of which produces carbonated perfection in a reusable bottle. £150; sodastream.co.uk
Olympia Soda Siphon
Fun to use and an exciting retro addition to the kitchen, but the water isn’t anywhere near as fizzy as it is from the SodaStream. It does get plus points for easy storage, though. £24; nisbets.co.uk