They not only refine porridge, ensure crunchy cake bases or give muffins healthier fiber. Oatmeal is a must in breakfast muesli, especially for many people. What is so much on everyone’s lips must be harmless, says the magazine “Öko-Test” and took the pithy flakes apart in the laboratory for its 10/2022 issue.
The result: Out of 29 products from (organic) supermarkets, discounters and drugstores, two thirds are recommended: 18 perform very well, three others do well. Four products rated “satisfactory” have increased traces of pesticides, the spray poison glyphosate or mineral oils and mold toxins. For another four products, the loads were so high that they rattled through the test with “inadequate”.
The toxic fungi had already attacked the oats in the field. The testers warn: They are cytotoxic and can weaken the immune system. A retailer then immediately removed the batch in question from sale, the eco-testers report.
The buyers were amazed at the considerable price range for the products made exclusively from oats: they paid between 69 cents and 3.29 euros for 500 grams of oat flakes.
