How to pick a cereal.

It's always been tough to pick a cereal.

Taste aside, do you go for the most fiber or the least fat and sugar? Is it more important to get whole grains or more vitamins?

In recent years, the stakes have gotten higher. At $3 to $4 a pound, many cereals cost as much as cheese, chicken breasts, or ground sirloin--far more than the corn, wheat, rice, or oats that go into them.

That's because 55 percent of the price of cold cereals goes to marketing and profits--twice as much as the average for other foods, charged Democratic Congressman Charles Schumer of New York last March. Finding a store-brand version of your favorite cereal could chop the cost in half without disappointing your tastebuds--at least that's what a taste test by the New York Times concluded.

But first you need to know what to look for. Here's a guide:

1. Be wary of names claims. You can trust claims about nutrients like "low-fat" and "high-fiber." But claims about ingredients can still trip you up. Honey Nut Cheerios, for example, has more sugar than honey and more salt than nuts.

Your best strategy: Check the ingredient list. Is there less fruit (or other ingredient you're looking for) than sugar? If so, leave it on the shelf. Ditto if the fruit is listed near or after the oil, salt, additives, or other ingredients that are added in tiny amounts.

2. Look for whole grains. Health authorities recommend eating whole grains to reduce the risk of cancer. And breakfast cereals are one of the easiest places to get them. As a bonus, you'll get more copper, magnesium, and potassium.

Your best strategy: Check the ingredient list to make sure that the wheat and oats are "whole" or "rolled" and the rice is "brown." Unless the box lists "whole corn," you'll have to call the company to find out whether it's whole or refined. And while bran is only part of the whole grain, it's one of the best parts. So you can count it as whole.

3. Check the fiber. Cancer experts say that you should eat at least 20 to 30 grams of fiber a day (most Americans are lucky to get ten grams). Does that mean two half-cup servings of Kellogg's All-Bran with Extra Fiber (total: 30 grams) or General Mills Fiber One (28 grams)? No, it means lots of whole grains, fruits, beans, and vegetables.

On the other hand, if you're troubled by constipation, go for a high-fiber cereal. One note of caution: the highest-fiber cereals squeeze in extra bran by replacing sugar with the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet), which takes up less room. If you want to avoid it, stick with regular All-bran.

Kellogg's Bran Buds have wheat bran plus psyllium seed husk, the stuff in laxatives like Metamucil. It's rich in soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol modestly.

Your best strategy. Look for at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving, and at least five to ten grams if you suffer from constipation.

4. Minimize sugar. It doesn't matter if it's honey, brown sugar, or fruit juice. All threaten your teeth and all replace some of the cereal's grain and fiber. They may also make you less likely to add the sliced banana or berries that will nudge you closer to eating five to nine fruits and vegetables a day.

And don't get snookered by claims like "lightly sweetened." Instead, check the grams of sugar on the "Nutrition Facts" label. Just remember that the number includes the sugar in the cereal's raisins or other dried fruits.

Your best strategy, Look for cereals with no more than five grams of added sugar per serving. If a cereal has fruit, though, you may never be able to figure that out, since some companies won't say how much sugar they add and how much comes from the fruit.

5. Limit sodium. Salt in cereals? You betcha. Not the 1,000+ mg you find in soups and frozen pizzas, but something to consider, especially if you keep refilling your bowl at the table. Two cups of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, for example, will run you 660 mg of sodium.

Your best strategy: Look for the least sodium even though (at least for cereal) it's less important than whole grains and fiber.

6. Watch out for fat traps. Most cereals are low in fat. But beware. Granola and muesli (its untoasted European counterpart) can hit nine grams of fat in a half-cup serving. And the 3 1/2 grams of saturated fat in a half-cup of a cereal like Quaker 100% Natural rivals that in a regular McDonald's burger.

Your best strategy: Stick to "low-fat" granolas or other cereals. That means no more than three grams of fat per serving.

The information for this article was compiled by Ingrid Van Tuinen.