To describe the consumption of ready-to-eat-breakfast cereals (RTEBCs) in Irish adults and its impact on adequacy and safety of micronutrient intakes and compliance with dietary recommendations.

Analysis for this paper used data from the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey that estimated habitual food intake using a 7-day food diary in a representative sample of adults aged 18–64 years (n=1379; 662 men, 717 women).

Despite the small quantity consumed (mean 28.6gday-1 or 4.7% of total energy intake), RTEBCs made an important contribution to the mean daily intake of carbohydrate (8.1%), starch (10.8%), dietary fibre (9.8%) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) (10.8%) in consumers. Increased consumption was associated with a more fibre-dense diet and with greater compliance with dietary recommendations for fat, carbohydrate and NSP. Fortified RTEBCs contributed significantly to mean daily intakes of iron (18%), thiamin (14%), riboflavin (17%), niacin (15%), vitamin B6 (13%), total folate (18%) and vitamin D (10%) and most of the contribution was from micronutrients added to RTEBCs. Increased consumption of fortified RTEBCs was associated with an increased nutrient density for a number of micronutrients and with a lower prevalence of dietary inadequacy of calcium, iron, riboflavin and folate, particularly in women. However, it was not associated with intakes in excess of the Tolerable Upper Intake Level for any micronutrient.

The consumption of RTEBCs is associated with improved compliance with dietary recommendations for fat, carbohydrate and fibre, with a more micronutrient-dense diet and a reduced risk of dietary inadequacy for calcium, iron, riboflavin and folate, without increasing the risk of excessive intakes of micronutrients.