The Early Morning Challenge: Nesquick Vs. Carnation Instant Breakfast

Adding powdered flavoring such as Nesquick to milk has become a popular way for parents to encourage their children to drink more milk. In addition, adults have become fond of quick fixes such as Carnation Instant Breakfast rather than eating a full meal in the morning. Although the products have many similarities, there are also drastic differences particularly in the nutritional content.

Nutritional Information

Nesquick is typically marketed toward parents. Their motto is "Kid Delicious. Mom Nutritious!" I actually purchased this product for my daughter because I believed it was a nutritious product and I was looking for more ways to get her to drink milk. When I actually took time to read the label, I was surprised to learn that the nutritional value is really quite minimal.

Nesquick and Carnation Instant Breakfast both have a similar number of calories for an eight ounce glass. Nesquick has 210 calories when added to one cup of reduced fat milk. Carnation Instant Breakfast has 220 calories when added to one cup of fat free milk. Both provide similar amounts of the recommended daily value of Calcium. Nesquick provides 40% and Instant Breakfast provides 50%. They also both provide 25% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin D. This is where the similarities end.

Instant Breakfast provides 45% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin A while Nesquick only provides 15%. It provides 50% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C while Nesquick only provides 10%. Nesquick does not provide any Iron while Instant Breakfast provides 25% of the recommended daily intake. Carnation Instant Breakfast also provides a number of other vitamins and minerals that are not included at all in Nesquick including Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Folic Acid.

I was surprised by the sugar content of both products. Both contain 21 grams of sugar when they are unprepared and 27 grams of sugar when mixed with one cup of milk. In fact, sugar is listed as the first ingredient on Nesquick. Sugar free versions are available for both products. The sugar free version of Instant Breakfast also includes an additional three grams of fiber per serving.