Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the health benefits of consuming breakfast cereal with milk as opposed to (a) other breakfast products and (b) not consuming breakfast.

Public Health England has not made an assessment.

The Government’s advice on a healthy, balanced diet is based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and is captured in the Eatwell Guide. Advice includes choosing starchy carbohydrates such as breakfast cereals that are higher-fibre or wholegrain, with less added fat, salt and sugar. In order to meet nutritional requirements, it is important to consume regular meals throughout the day. Not eating breakfast may make it more difficult to meet recommended intakes of certain nutrients, such as fibre, B vitamins, iron and folate, commonly found in some breakfast cereals, and calcium found in milk.