BREAKFAST, they tell us, is the most important meal of the day. Which is probably why most of us skip it... Porridge, bacon and eggs have long been supplanted in most homes by toast and cereal. Many of us don't even have time to do that. Or to make sure our children eat properly. First thing in the morning we are all in a rush, with no time for sensible things like eating. The days of the tablecloth, toast rack, coffee pot and a civilised leisurely start to the day have gone. Enter the breakfast bar.

It's enough to make traditionalists sob quietly - breakfast in a bar that you can eat on the way to school or to work. Is this the end of civilisation as we know it? Quite possibly.

The breakfast bars are cereal based, generally with added fruit and nuts. And, especially in the case of those aimed at children, a tremendous amount of sugar.

READ THE SMALL PRINT. Some of these bars are 50 per cent sugar. Is that what you want to give your child?

COCO POPS BAR

£1.19 for 6x20g bars

Cereal and milk "Contain calcium, vitamins and iron." Maybe. They are also 50 per cent sugars and 16 per cent fat.

Not surprisingly, they are sickly sweet - like those rice crispie cakes you make for children's parties.

H

FROSTIES BAR

£1.19 for 6x27g bars

Cereal and milk "Contains calcium, vitamins and iron." Another sickly sweet bar with 37 per cent sugars, 17 per cent fats.

H

NEW YORKER HAZELNUT AND ALMOND BREAKFAST BAR £1.29 for 6x25g bars

"The all day breakfast fortified with vitamins and calcium." Might be called New Yorker, but it is actually made in Germany. It has ten per cent hazel nuts, two per cent almonds plus sesame seeds and cereals and 26 per cent sugar with 18 per cent fats.

Very good flavour, sweet without being sickly. You actually taste the nuts. We liked these. They also do a very nice cranberry version.

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ORGANIX FRUIT AND CEREAL BAR

49p for 30g bar

It has 28 per cent sugar, 20 per cent fat.

Quite nice flavour, but a damp soggy texture.

HH

KELLOGGS NUTRI GRAIN

Multigrain £1.69 for 8 x 37g

"Morning bars made with wheat, wholegrain oats and fruit. Contain as much calcium as a quarter of a pint of nutritious milk."

This packet is desperate to convince you it's good simple wholesome food, despite the long list of unrecognisable ingredients plus 31 per cent sugars, and eight per cent fat.

These are fruit-filled biscuits, a bit like fig rolls, only soggier and made with apple. Tasted overwhelmingly of cinnamon and sugar and not very nice.

H

JORDANS FRUIT AND NUT BREAK

£1.59 for 6 x 36g

"A healthy breakfast shouldn't taste this good."

Made with cereals, sultanas, currants, apricots and almonds. 12 per cent fruit, six per cent nuts. 21 per cent sugars, ten per cent fats.

Although the pack features a picture of Jordans mill in Bedfordshire, these bars are made in Australia. Compared to the other bars, these are pretty solid going and not so sweet. Which is precisely why they became our favourites. They are also filling so if you did eat one instead of breakfast, they might actually keep you going. Children probably won't like these as much, but they should.

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CONCLUSIONS

Some of these, Jordans, New Yorker, taste good, are well balanced and have a useful function as snack bars. Great for emergency provisions for walkers. But they should not be used as glorified biscuits.

As for the others, they are mostly just yet another example of the sugar and fat we pile into our children. Resist them. Get up early. Get the porridge on, the boiled egg and soldiers, the toast and the orange juice.

It has to be better than a breakfast bar