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The breakfast food marketed as wholesome often has more sugar than cornflakes.
FoodLens verdict
🫣 Keep as a treat
Granola sits in the health food aisle, comes in kraft paper bags, and has words like 'natural', 'wholesome' and 'nutritious' printed on the front. But when you check the NOVA classification, most commercial granola lands at level 3 or 4 — the same category as crisps and fast food. Here is why.
Traditional granola is just oats, nuts, seeds and a little honey — baked together. That version is level 2 at most. But the granola sold in most Swedish supermarkets is very different. Commercial granola typically contains glucose syrup, palm oil, artificial flavourings, and sometimes more sugar per 100g than a bowl of cornflakes. The oats are still there, but they are surrounded by industrial ingredients.
NOVA classification looks at the extent of processing and the presence of industrial ingredients not used in home cooking. Glucose syrup, palm oil and artificial flavourings are all classic ultra processed markers. Even granolas labelled 'natural' or 'organic' often contain these — because organic glucose syrup is still glucose syrup.
Check the ingredient list, not the front of the pack. A clean granola has 5-7 ingredients — oats, nuts, seeds, a natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup, and maybe some dried fruit. If you see glucose syrup, modified starch or anything you could not find in a kitchen, put it back.
Plain oats (havregryn) are level 1 — one ingredient, zero processing. Add your own nuts, seeds and a little honey for a homemade granola that costs less and has nothing you would not recognise. Or look for brands with very short ingredient lists — Axa and ICA Ekologisk have cleaner options.
Granola is a good example of health washing — a product that looks clean on the outside but is highly processed on the inside. The best breakfast is still plain oats with toppings you add yourself.