I’m more of an occasional cereal eater and for breakfast usually have a yogurt or occasionally eggs, with cereal reserved for the times when I want something more substantial than a yogurt but don’t have time for a cooked breakfast. I have to admit a weakness for sugary cereals which probably stems back to my childhood when Frosties were the only ones I would eat! Now, I alternate between something healthy like Special K, a nutty muesli from Jordan’s or Dorset Cereals, and the occasional treat of something like Krave!I was recently sent some cereal called Keep Me Going. Richard Paterson from Freedom Cereals, the independent company behind the product, said it was developed "after noticing just how much sugar and salt were in the cereals my 3 children, in particular, were eating. The idea was to develop healthy nutritional products with functional benefits too (like low Gi) but which could be as competitively priced as the brands from Kelloggs and Nestle (Cereal Partners). This turned out to be quite challenging and it took over 2 years to get right!"
So far they only have one product but are planning to expand the range soon.
The cereal consists of whole grain barley and oat pillows and I have to admit looks a bit like the kibbles I give my cat! It’s very healthy as it’s low in sugar, salt and fat and is high fibre and low GI. The GI testing was conducted by Hammersmith Hospital and involved around a dozen volunteers having their blood-sugar levels checked at regular intervals after eating the cereal over a two week period.
It took a little getting used to at first as I am used to much sweeter cereals, and I would prefer a little more flavour such as a sprinkling of cinnamon. But a healthy start is so important and it’s easy to find a way to tailor this cereal to suit you, whether that’s adding fruit or honey or a thicker soya milk – I really enjoyed it topped with low fat lemon yogurt.
The packaging of the cereal box tends to be quite important for children and the vibrant green colour, the image on the box and the red logo – in a writing that reminds me a little of Kellogg’s but clearly is different – would appeal. Most importantly you get a free pack of geographical trading cards in the box – so this isn’t some po-faced healthy brand that doesn’t want to have fun. You can print a world map from their website to go with the trading cards as well.
There's also a hidden code on the top flap which, if cracked, takes you to an off-menu page on their website with lots more information on codes and ciphers and another code to crack which leads to a further page; also, if you take the pack to pieces, you'll find a couple of words of 'Pig Latin' on one of the flaps. I completely missed all of that as my breakfast tends to be very much grab and go but I think it would be a lot of fun (and quite educational) for children!
I started off with the code thinking it was pretty easy but the last part is different and it took me a few minutes to figure out - but I got there in the end!
Keep Me Going is only available at Ocado at the moment; if you haven't shopped there before you can get a money off code here (or if this has expired, keep an eye out as they come up quite often). The company's second product, Keep Me Strong, which is high in protein and low in salt and sugar, will be on its way soon. It would be good to see more independent companies represented in the cereal aisle of the supermarket so I hope this brand does well.
Thanks to Freedom Foods for sending the cereal. All opinions are my own and I was not asked to write a positive review. Etc etc.
Thanks to Freedom Foods for sending the cereal. All opinions are my own and I was not asked to write a positive review. Etc etc.