The healthiest – and least healthy – mueslis

Did you start your day with a bowl of something nutritious? A 2025 Which? survey* shows a third of us have eaten muesli in the past year and more than a fifth of muesli eaters have it daily.

While 70% choose it because it’s a ‘healthy choice’, putting good intentions into practice isn’t always easy, with such obstacles as 'health halos’  – labelling that trumpets a product’s virtues to distract from nutritional downsides – and ‘portion distortion’ getting in the way. No wonder consumers say they want clearer labelling. 

Starting with muesli, we set out to help shoppers make healthier choices by putting 86 muesli products under scrutiny in a different way to see what’s healthiest – and what’s not. Here’s what we found.

*Survey of 1,295 respondents carried out in December 2025

Healthy vs least healthy mueslis: our findings

We looked at 86 mueslis and scored them out of 100:

• The healthiest six products achieved 80 out of 100.
• A total of four had scores of 62 or below out of 100, where 62 is the threshold for an unhealthy product.
• One muesli scored 46 out of 100 – just 10 points lower than sugary Nestlé KitKat breakfast cereal.
• The majority of muesli products – 52 out of 86 – scored between 74 and 78 points, making it a healthy category on the whole.

Here's a snapshot of those that fared well – and those that didn't*. Plus, read on to find nutritional advice, guidelines on portion control and the healthiest (and least) mueslis to fill your breakfast bowl with. 

Top 6 mueslis

Bottom 4 mueslis

* Using the tables: values are per 100g. Data collected May 2025. Top six are in alphabetical order and the bottom four are in order of scores. Total score = NPM scores scaled for ease of comparison, using the University of Oxford scaled scores equation.

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Top 6 healthiest mueslis

Six out of the 86 muesli products achieved a score of 80 out of 100 – and three of them are from supermarket value ranges. The measurements are given in grams per 100g, and the products are in alphabetical order. 

• ASDA Just Essentials muesli: 80 out of 100

£2 for 1kg

A muesli option with good levels of fibre and protein from a high percentage of grains (78%) while being low in sugar (5.3g), salt (0.02g) and saturated fat (0.8g). Ingredients include rolled oats, sultanas, raisins and a small amount of almonds. It’s a budget product, too (£2 for 1kg/20p per 100g, ASDA).

• H&B (Holland & Barrett) 15 Plant Fruit & Nut muesli: 80 out of 100

£4.25 for 600g

This muesli’s protein comes from a variety of wholegrains, including gluten-free oats, millet and buckwheat flakes, as well as nutritious seeds like sunflower, pumpkin and brown linseed. These comfortably outweigh any accompanying penalty for 8.3g of sugar from the 20% dried fruit. A well-balanced cereal (£4.25 for 600g/71p per 100g, Ocado).

• Morrisons Savers muesli: 80 out of 100

£2 per 1kg

With 78% grain content from wheat and oat flakes, this is a high-fibre muesli with low saturated fat levels, a decent amount of protein per serving, and minimal salt. A moderate amount of dried fruit from raisins and sultanas provides nutritional benefits, including fibre, while still making this a low-sugar (5g) choice (£2 for 1kg/20p per 100g, Morrisons).

• Sainsbury’s Fruity muesli: 80 out of 100

£2.50 for 750g

A rich fruit content from sultanas, raisins, dates, apricots and apple means it’s high in fruit sugars (23.1g), but there are positives for fibre and nutrients. It’s low in salt (0.03g) and saturated fat (0.5g). An interesting blend with an exciting array of tastes and textures (£2.50 for 750g/33p per 100g, Sainsbury’s).

• Sainsbury’s Stamford Street Co. muesli: 80 out of 100

£2 per 1kg

This value muesli is a simple mix of oats, wheat and barley wholegrains that provide protein and fibre, and with a negligible salt content (0.03g). It also has a smattering of fruit (sultanas and raisins) and hazelnuts in just the right amount to accrue benefits without being slammed with hefty penalties on our scoring system (£2 for 1kg/ 20p per 100g, Sainsbury’s).

• Tesco Finest Fruit, Nut & Seeds muesli: 80 out of 100

£3 for 500g

It’s the priciest of the six, but it’s a cleverly crafted muesli with beneficial ingredients that overwhelmingly outweigh less desirable ones, such as moderate amounts of sugar (12.7g). Five cereal flake types, including barley, spelt and rye, help to provide a great balance of fibre, energy and protein (£3 for 500g/60p per 100g, Tesco). 

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4 least healthy mueslis

There were four deemed the least healthy of all the products we looked at. Starting from the least healthy, which scored 46 out of 100 – lower than sugary Nestlé KitKat breakfast cereal by just 10 points.

Here’s why they were deemed least healthy:

• Raw Gorilla Keto Mighty muesli: 46 out of 100

£5.50 per 250g

This specialist keto product is low sugar (1.5g) and has reasonable fibre levels, but at just under 600kcal per 100g, it’s much higher in calories than standard muesli. With 12% coconut chips plus cacao nibs, it also has the highest saturated fat content (12.2g) of all 86 mueslis. It's this muesli that has an NPM scaled score of 46: 10 points lower than Nestle KitKat cereal, which scores 56 out of 100. Note: the lower the NPM score, the less healthy a product is considered to be. (£5.50 for 250g/£2.20 per 100g, Ocado).

• Eat Natural Gluten Free Buckwheat Toasted muesli: 50 out of 100

£3.35 per 500g

It’s highly calorific (482kcal), fairly high in sugar (15.3g) and high in saturated fat (7.4g) from shredded coconut, which accounts for 6% of this formulation. This is despite high protein and fibre levels from various seeds (£3.35 for 500g/67p per 100g, Waitrose).

• Mornflake Classic Fruit & Nut muesli: 60 out of 100

£2.29 per 750g

This muesli gets maximum penalties for sugar because of its high fruit content – especially 10% dates – and for a calorie content that brings it near to the 400 calories officially recommended for breakfast. It also gets penalised for having 3.1g of saturated fat, from its 4% coconut content (£2.29 for 750g/31p per 100g, Morrisons).

• Waitrose Essential No Added Sugar Fruit & Nut muesli: 62 out of 100

£3.25 per 1kg

Despite its ‘No added sugar’ label, this muesli nonetheless contains 19.5g of sugar from dried fruit – important to know if you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake. Like three of the other least healthy mueslis, this contains coconut (5%), which will have contributed to its 3.5g saturated fat content and a corresponding penalty (£3.25 for 1kg/32.5p per 100g, Waitrose).

Expert verdict: is muesli healthier than other healthy breakfast choices?

How does muesli compare to other popular breakfasts in terms of healthiness? Shefalee Loth, Which? principal researcher and nutritionist, explains: ''Our data shows that muesli is generally a healthy way to kickstart your morning, and it's quick and convenient.' 

But that's not all.

Good fibre levels come from the main ingredients of oats, dried fruit, nuts and seeds. These provide slow-release energy and help to avoid the sharp energy spikes you can experience with processed, sugary cereals or pastries. Also, muesli with milk or fortified plant milk offers a good dose of calcium, and soya milk provides some protein, too. Dried fruit has key vitamins and minerals, as do nuts and seeds, which are also a source of healthy, unsaturated fats. 

Other healthy breakfast options include eggs or Greek yoghurt topped with fruit. But although they'll give you more protein compared with standard muesli, they won't give you as much fibre. 

'Eggs alone have no fibre, so it's worth having them with some toast and vegetables such as spinach or tomatoes, and seeds,' says Shefalee. 

Similarly, with a Greek yoghurt breakfast, the fruit provides some fibre, but the yoghurt has none. So you'll need to add extras like nuts or oats to make it a better-rounded choice.

So, what's best – muesli or other healthy choices? Shefalee says: 'Overall, muesli is a good option, particularly for fibre and convenience, but varying your breakfasts helps support a healthy gut and a balanced diet.' 

In other words, varying your breakfast choice may be beneficial to your health.

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How to pick a healthy muesli

Here’s what we picked up from examining scores of labels:

• Check the order of ingredients. If sugar or fruit is close to the start of the list, the final overall score is likely to be lower, making it less healthy – regardless of other health claims.
• Beware of claims like ‘no added sugar’. This just means no ‘extrinsic’ sugars added, such as brown sugar, agave syrup or even honey – it’s still possible for a muesli to be high in sugar nonetheless. Although there are health benefits to be had from dried fruit (such as fibre or nutrients), if you’re concerned about sugar consumption, keep your eyes peeled – even if you don’t think you need to.
• Watch out for coconut. It's often added as a luxury item, but the payback is that it's very high in saturated fat. Maximum daily amounts of saturated fat in the UK are 30g for men and 20g for women. So if you consider that it’s not just breakfast you’ll be eating but lunch, dinner, and possibly snacks, too, a high-saturated-fat cereal can bump things up.

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How much should you be eating for breakfast?

Official guidelines suggest around 400 calories for breakfast – less if you're trying to lose weight (280kcal for women and 380kcal for men, according to the NHS Better Health initiative). A typical 45g muesli serving with semi-skimmed milk is 207 calories, which is well within these levels.

However, our 2025 survey shows that when it comes to muesli, more of us guess (31%) than measure (22%). Previous Which? Research showed volunteers served themselves an average of 63% more than recommended. For a high-calorie muesli, this equates to 483 calories with milk and 9g of saturated fat (daily limits are 20g for women and 30g for men). 

Shefalee Loth says: ‘Research shows recommended portion sizes are often unrealistic. Luckily, our research found muesli is generally a healthy choice to start your day.’

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How do you know what’s in your muesli?

Standard pack information on muesli includes ingredients lists, nutritional tables and traffic light labelling (in most cases), providing such nutritional information as sugar, fibre and protein content. 

We wanted to add to consumers’ knowledge with a holistic approach involving the NPM (nutrient profiling model) – primarily used by retailers and manufacturers as the basis for TV and in-store advertising and promotional restrictions for HFSS (high in fat, salt or sugar) products.

However, with the help of Mike Rayner, professor of Population Health at the University of Oxford, who was pivotal to the original NPM’s development in 2004, we used an evidence-based equation to transform the raw NPM scores of 86 muesli products we scrutinised to turn them into a more consumer-friendly format.

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Muesli: how our scoring works

NPM scores are calculated by taking into account both positive/beneficial ingredients such as fibre and protein, and less beneficial ones including sugar and saturated fat. It also factors in FVN – fruit, vegetable and nut – content. 

Once we had these figures, an official NPM tool calculated a final raw score indicating either a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ for HFSS purposes, which we were then able to turn into a scoring system from 0 (least healthy) to 100 (most healthy).

On a scale of 1 to 100, a ‘pass’ (denoting ‘healthy’) is anything from 63 to 100, and the higher the score, the healthier the food. Anything 62 or less is a ‘fail’. It is worth noting that a newer version of the model, NPM 2018, has been officially published by the UK government and will introduce changes, such as stricter thresholds for energy density and fat. 

However, it's likely to take some time before it is applied. 

Our use of the 2004 NPM aligns with the UK's regulatory standard. It is a mathematical assessment of nutrient balance per 100g, which ensures a transparent level playing field for objective, category-wide comparison.