M&S has been garnering lots of media attention for its latest food launch – a range of minimum ingredients breakfast cereals, with their pared-down recipes boldly announced front-of-pack. 

And it is one product in particular that is making most of the headlines – M&S’s new one ingredient Corn Flakes. M&S Food managing director Alex Fereudmann is clearly a fan. Writing on LinkedIn this week he said: “M&S has always led the way on having the cleanest food – and with this new range, the team has pushed the boundaries again. The ingredients list for the Cornflakes is literally just – ‘Corn’. Similarly, the ingredients list for the Multigrain Hoops is only five long.”

The ‘Only … Ingredients’ range breakfast cereal launch has received plenty of industry praise. But it has also come in for criticism from commentators who say it represents reductive thinking about nutrition.

Joining in on the LinkedIn discussion, brand owner at The Curators, Max Rees, Commented: “If a bowl of plain cornflakes (where the only ingredient is corn) is now the gold standard of breakfast, we need to have a chat. Fewer ingredients does not equal less processed … (and) a single-ingredient food can be just as nutritionally pointless as an ultra-processed one.” 

Registered nutritionist, Ali Morpeth, questioned M&S’s decision not to fortify its trio of ‘Only’ breakfast cereals. “16% adult iron intake comes from fortified breakfast cereals, and 20% of kids iron intake…so I think the first question to ask is what we are trying to achieve. (Is this about) less ingredients or better nutrition?”.

Obesity and lifestyle medicine specialist, Ellen Fallows, commented: “UPF fails to be nutritious due to both what is added as well as what has been taken away or done in the processing – cornflakes are not squashed dried sweetcorn (else we could make them at home!) the nutritious bits have been taken out (husk, bran, oils) to leave just the starch. More accurately these are ‘ultra-processed corn starch flakes’.” 

M&S may also find itself challenged for associating itself with ‘clean eating’, a term that has been criticised by eating disorder specialists and (disowned by several prominent influencers who were one enthusiastic advocates), and has been linked to distress and disruption.