ÖKO-TEST examined 50 fruit muesli for ingredients – and the result is anything but pleasing: in addition to heavy metals and mineral oil, there are also various toxic pesticides in the muesli. Here you can find out which brands you should stay away from in the future. We also reveal how healthy breakfast really is in the video.
Fruit muesli is supposed to ensure a healthy start to the day – but according to ÖKO-TEST, this does not necessarily apply to some commercially available breakfast mixes. Like the magazine (Issue 1/2022) reported that muesli sometimes contains many different pesticides. These even include those whose use is banned in the EU.
Only positive observation: If it is a product with an organic seal, the mueslis are largely free of pesticides.
Cheap test winner: These mueslis are “very good”
The test shows that good muesli does not have to be expensive. In addition to organic and branded products, cheap mueslis also do “very well”:
- Organic Primo berry muesli with raisins from miller for 2.35 euros
- Bio Sonne organic muesli fruits from Norma for 2.49 euros
- Crownfield Bio Organic Whole Grain Muesli Fruits by Lidl for 2.49 euros
- Gut organic muesli classic spelled and fruit from Aldi for 2.49 euros
- K-Bio Berry Muesli from Kaufland for 2.31 euros
- Natur Gut organic spelled and fruit muesli from penny for 2.49 euros
- Rewe organic berry muesli, Naturland by rewe for 2.99 euros
You can read about which mueslis were also convincing in the test in the detailed test subject to a charge at ÖKO-TEST.
You should better keep your hands off these mueslis
ÖKO-TEST examined 50 fruit mueslis with a fruit content of 7 to 55 percent. 21 of them scored “very good”. In return, 10 products received the worst grade “insufficient”.
The negative record presents the “Seitenbacher Müsli gluten-free”, in which the testers found traces of 31 pesticides, including the fungicides carbendazim and famoxadone, which are banned in the EU. According to the report, seven other products contained substances whose use is also banned in the EU.
The following products failed the test with “unsatisfactory”. You should therefore better keep your hands off these mueslis due to the critical ingredients:
- Seitenbacher pampering mixture
- Schär Gluten-Free Fruits Muesli
- One Day More Fruit Muesli
- Hensel Our house muesli
- Golden breakfast fruit muesli
- dr Oetker Vitalis fruit muesli
- Brüggen fruit muesli
- Alpen No Added Sugar Swiss Style Muesli
- Spielberger Mühle muesli spelled fruit, Demeter
Controversial in the EU, but not yet banned, is the spray poison glyphosate, which is suspected of being cancerous. Its massive use also endangers biodiversity. The commissioned food laboratory also detected traces of it in five fruit mueslis.
Other critical substances also in organic muesli
In addition, some mueslis are contaminated with mineral oil components – even organic mueslis contain aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOAH). “Carcinogenic compounds can also belong to this group of substances. As a precaution, food should therefore be free of MOAH,” writes ÖKO-TEST. The assumption: The mineral oil components could have gotten into the muesli ingredients from packaging or lubricating oils on machines.
The laboratory commissioned by ÖKO-TEST also verified saturated mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOSH). “MOSH accumulate in the human body. The consequences of this are still unclear,” says the report.
Too much sugar in muesli
There is a scientific consensus that too much sugar is unhealthy. However, the note “no added sugar” says nothing about the actual sugar content. For example, some mueslis consist of a quarter or more of sugar, without sugar, cane sugar or glucose syrup appearing in the list of ingredients. The sweetness comes mainly from the dried fruit it contains.
The following applies to six mueslis in the test: Even a 50-gram portion contains more sugar than the World Health Organization (WHO) considers harmless to health even for an adult. For children, the magazine recommends mueslis with no more than 15 percent sugar.
To the detailed report at ÖKO-TEST