Breakfast Bars

Packaging often claims these bars are made from real fruit and whole grains, but read the labels: the primary ingredient is probably high fructose corn syrup. Nutrition professor Dr. Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, and author of numerous nutrition books, including her latest What to Eat, makes no bones about it. "These are cookies," she says.

What about those whole-grain claims? According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a product comprised of merely 16 percent whole grains can be labeled an "excellent source of whole grains." Linda Piette, pediatric nutritionist, licensed and registered dietician, and author of Just Two More Bites, recommends 100 percent whole-grain Fig Newtons instead—cookies that contain real fruit and a complete serving of whole grains.

A better on-the-go breakfast would be peanut butter on whole-wheat toast, a banana, and a hard-boiled egg (which can be made the night before), or even dry breakfast cereal in a baggie with a kid-sized carton of low-fat milk.