Nutritional Profile and consumers' Perceptions of Cereal Bars

The fast pace of our daily lives often prompts consumers to seek convenient and ready-to-eat snacks, such as cereal bars. This work aims to characterize the cereal bars available in the Portuguese market (Study 1), as well as consumers' perceptions of different types of these products (Study 2). First, we collected data (e.g. nutritional information, price) on 277 cereal bars from two major Portuguese retailers. The results indicated that most of these products do not comply with the current guidelines for key nutrients like sugar, fat, and salt. Second, using an online survey, we asked participants (N = 373) to evaluate cereal bars from different categories (e.g. "energy/protein") across eleven dimensions. Overall, the bars were rated as tasty but also unhealthy, highly caloric, processed, and unsuitable for athletes, children, and weight loss. Interestingly, participants overestimated the content of most nutrients contained in cereal bars. A content analysis revealed that participants indicated more reasons for not consuming (e.g. excessive sugar content) than consuming (e.g. convenience) these products. Given the increasing popularity of cereal bars, our findings call for action from multiple stakeholders toward improving cereal bars' nutritional profile and advancing our understanding of consumers' perceptions of these products to facilitate healthier choices.