The big debate

Is cereal better than toast?

Both are breakfast heroes – but Battle of the
it’s time to choose a champion. breakfasts.

What you need to know

The most famous British breakfast is
the fry-up, including bacon, eggs and
sausages. Popular choices nowadays
include pancakes and eggy bread
but they take a lot of time to cook,
so are best saved for weekends.

According to a recent survey, 33%

of people in the UK prefer cereal
for breakfast, while 38% like toast.

The first cereal – Granula – was
invented in 1863. It had to be soaked
overnight to be chewable. The electric
toaster was invented around 40 years
later but people have used heat to turn
bread into toast for thousands of years.
B reakfast is important because it refuels the body
and brain after sleep and sets you up for the day
ahead. At the weekend you can relax and prepare
something like pancakes or eggy bread but during
the week, time is usually short. The ultimate quick
and easy breakfast foods are toast or cereal. Do you
drool as cold butter melts into hot toast, ready to be
slathered with whatever you like to follow – maybe
honey, jam or Marmite? Or perhaps you prefer the
crunch and slurp of milk as you enjoy a mouthful of
cereal. Some people believe that breakfast cereals are
more interesting than toast but there are hundreds of
things you can pile onto a slice. This week’s big
debate is a very important question. What do you
think? Is cereal better than toast?
Yes – it’s nutritious and delicious
What could be more delicious than cold, creamy milk
poured over something crunchy? There are so many
varieties of breakfast cereals, from light balls of
puffed rice to flaky wheat biscuits or crunchy flakes
– something for everyone. What’s more, it’s good for
you. Many cereals are enriched with folic acid,
vitamin D and iron, which are all part of a healthy
diet. Most muesli comes with healthy nuts and seeds,
and the oats release energy slowly, keeping you full
for hours. Besides, cereal keeps for ages. If you seal
up the bag properly, it won’t turn stale, soft or
mouldy. This means that cereal is more practical and
less wasteful than bread, which often goes off after a
few days. Plus, you can’t burn cereal.
AD
SPREO E
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No – toast has stood the test of time
Bread is one of the oldest foods that humans have
made and eaten and dates back at least 8,000 years.
Breakfast cereals are frequently loaded with sugar and
artificial additives. Bread is made from flour, water,
salt and often yeast. Most bread is quite plain – which
is its great advantage. Its very dullness makes it the
perfect partner for all kinds of delicious spreads, from
butter on its own to fruity jam or tasty Marmite. You
can even add sliced cheese, bacon or beans. In fact,
the best thing about toast is that it’s so versatile, you
can eat it with just about anything. It’s an invitation to
get creative. Add the fact that there are dozens of
different styles of bread and you can see why toast has
been a firm favourite for centuries.

Three reasons why cereal is Three reasons why toast is

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YES better than toast NO better than cereal
the debate
1 There is a huge choice when it comes to
cereals. You can choose from all sorts of
flavours, shapes and textures. There’s
1 Toast is extremely easy to make. Just
put slices of bread in the toaster and
wait for it to pop up.
something for everyone.
2 Cereal often comes with healthy
ingredients like nuts and fruit, and
2 Some people say it is dull but that is its
strength. Everything goes with toast:
plain butter, bananas, honey, peanut
many are also enriched with the butter, Marmite or cheese. Get creative.
60% 40%
YES NO essential vitamins our bodies need.
3 You can’t burn cereal and it lasts much
longer than bread. If you store it
3 In fact toast itself offers variety too.
There are lots of different types of
bread, all with their own taste and
properly it won’t go stale or mouldy. texture – and their ideal topping.
REX SHUTTERSTOCK

Now that you’ve read a bit more about it, tell us what you think by voting in our poll at theweekjunior.co.uk/polls.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote YES if you think cereal is better than toast, or NO if you don’t. We’ll publish the results next week.

The aim of the Big debate page is to present two sides of an issue fairly and objectively, in order to stimulate discussion and allow our readers to make up their minds.
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FLOWERS PERFUME VINEGAR
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