Scone: the good trial used a scone built for the trial

The best evidence on scones is about a scone you cannot buy. A scone baked with type 4 resistant starch in place of part of the refined wheat flour cut the glucose area under the curve after the meal by 43 to 45 percent and the insulin area by 35 to 40 percent. That was 32 healthy adults aged 18 to 74 with a body mass index between 18.5 and 29.99, one test scone per visit, so it reads a single meal in healthy people and not blood sugar control over time. Peak glucose fell 8 to 10 percent and peak insulin 22 percent in the same trial. The fibre scone also left 35 people less hungry across the whole 180 minutes with no more stomach complaints than the control scone, on self reported ratings after one meal, which say nothing about how much anyone eats in a day. A scone off the counter belongs with cake by the way portions get counted. In 9341 Australian adults the group of cakes, muffins, scones and cake type desserts gave more discretionary energy than any other food group, 8.4 percent of it, eaten in helpings worth 2.3 to 3.0 discretionary servings. That number comes from one day of recall and a category that never separates scones from cakes. One cafe that put large calorie labels in front of its cakes sold 30 percent fewer muffins and 4 percent more scones (P = 0.0014), over two consecutive months in a single outlet with two product lines and no control site. The scone won there by being the lower calorie item of a pair, which is a different thing from being a light food.

How much is actually in it

• Restaurant made biscuits and scones were among the worst offenders for trans fats in Canada, with 47.4 percent of them above the voluntary limit while the food supply overall reached 97 percent compliance. — Canadian food supply databases, 921 foods in 2005 to 2009 and 5544 labelled foods in 2010 to 2011, plus 4272 restaurant items (n = 10737 food records) Evidence C source
  47.4 percent of restaurant prepared biscuits and scones above trans fat limits; supply wide compliance up from 75 percent to 97 percent; saturated fat higher in some low trans fat foods
• Scones sit among the cake and chocolate group that supplied a measurable share of the 300 mg of plant sterols British men ate each day. — 24798 British men and women in the EPIC Norfolk cohort, food frequency questionnaires linked to a plant sterol database (n = 24798) Evidence C source
  Total plant sterol intake 300 mg a day in men and 293 mg in women; men drew more of it than women from cakes, scones and chocolate (P < 0.001)

What a real portion looks like

• The cake, muffin and scone group gave Australian adults more discretionary energy than any other food group, 8.4 percent of it, and it was eaten in portions worth 2.3 to 3.0 servings of 600 kJ each. — 9341 Australian adults aged 19 years and over, national nutrition survey 2011 to 2012 (n = 9341) Evidence C source
  8.4 percent of discretionary energy from cakes, muffins, scones and cake-type desserts; portion size 2.3 to 3.0 discretionary servings; mean 5.0 servings a day overall

What it does to your health

• A scone baked with type-4 resistant starch in place of part of the refined wheat flour cut the glucose area under the curve after the meal by 43 to 45 percent and the insulin area by 35 to 40 percent. — 32 healthy adults aged 18 to 74 years with body mass index 18.5 to 29.99, one scone per visit, measured over 180 minutes (n = 32) Evidence B source
  Glucose incremental AUC down 43 to 45 percent, insulin incremental AUC down 35 to 40 percent, peak glucose down 8 to 10 percent, peak insulin down 22 percent
• The same high fibre scone also left people less hungry for the whole 180 minutes after eating, with no more stomach complaints than the ordinary scone. — 35 healthy adults rating hunger on a visual analogue scale over 180 minutes after one scone (n = 35) Evidence B source
  Lower hunger and desire to eat across 180 minutes, no gastrointestinal side effects against control
• Three scones a day made with soya flour, giving 120 mg of isoflavones, lowered total testosterone in healthy men from 19.3 to 18.2 nmol per litre over 6 weeks. — 20 healthy men, mean age 35.6 years, three scones a day for 6 weeks on top of the usual diet, randomised placebo controlled crossover (n = 20) Evidence B source
  Total testosterone 19.3 to 18.2 nmol/l (95% CI 1.01, 1.12; P = 0.03); myeloperoxidase lag time 55.0 to 68.0 min (P = 0.009); hydroperoxides 2.69 to 2.34 micromol/l (P = 0.009); no change in cholesterol or triglycerides

Safety, limits and interactions

• Home baked scones caused life threatening anaphylaxis in an adult patient in a case series on flour infested with house dust mites, and 4 of 57 household flour samples in the same survey held live mites. — two adult patients in Singapore, both intolerant of anti-inflammatory drugs and with allergic rhinitis, plus 57 household flour samples (n = 2 cases, 57 flour samples) Evidence C source
  Anaphylaxis one hour after eating home baked scones; 4 of 57 flour samples (7 percent) held live Dermatophagoides farinae mites

What people believe that the data does not support

• When a cafe put large calorie labels in front of its cakes, muffin sales fell 30 percent while scone sales rose 4 percent, so the scone won by looking like the lighter choice. — sales of two popular items in one outlet, two consecutive months, one month without and one month with prominent labels (n = 2 product lines, 2 months of sales) Evidence C source
  Muffin sales minus 30 percent, scone sales plus 4 percent, difference significant at P = 0.0014

Who this works differently for

• Children barely past their first birthday already got 10.2 percent of their discretionary energy from cakes, muffins, scones and similar desserts. — 828 Australian toddlers with a mean age of 13.1 months, three days of dietary data (n = 828) Evidence C source
  Discretionary foods 11.2 percent of total energy; cakes, muffins, scones and cake-type desserts 10.2 percent of that discretionary energy, sweet biscuits 10.8 percent

What is still unknown

• The scone glucose result rests on 32 people out of 36 randomised, because samples were missing from at least one visit, and that is the whole evidence base for it. — 36 adults randomised in Boca Raton, Florida, 32 left in the glucose and insulin analysis, 35 in the appetite analysis (n = 36 randomised, 32 analysed) Evidence B source
  No effect measured here, this is the size of the evidence
• Scones appear by name among the foods behind confirmed food poisoning outbreaks in Kenya, where only 13 of 37 reported outbreaks over 23 years were ever traced to an agent. — 37 reported foodborne outbreaks in 42 Kenyan districts between 1970 and 1993, 13 confirmed and involving 926 people (n = 926 people in confirmed outbreaks) Evidence C source
  13 of 37 outbreaks confirmed; implicated foods included bread, scones and other wheat products

The bottom line

Three soya scones a day, carrying 120 mg of isoflavones, lowered total serum testosterone in 20 healthy men of mean age 35.6 years from 19.3 to 18.2 nmol/l over 6 weeks (P = 0.03). That is a fall of about 1 nmol/l inside the normal range, measured in twenty men over six weeks, and this page holds nothing larger on soya scones. The same crossover moved two oxidation markers, myeloperoxidase lag time from 55.0 to 68.0 minutes (P = 0.009) and hydroperoxides from 2.69 to 2.34 micromol/l (P = 0.009), and left cholesterol and triglycerides unchanged. Fat is where a shop scone parts company with a home one. In Canadian food supply data, 47.4 percent of restaurant prepared biscuits and scones sat above the voluntary trans fat limits while compliance across the whole supply rose from 75 percent to 97 percent, on label values collected between 2005 and 2011. Canada prohibited partially hydrogenated oils from September 2018, years after those samples, so that figure describes the voluntary era. Plant sterols get counted the same grouped way. British men in the EPIC Norfolk cohort of 24798 people took in 300 mg of plant sterols a day and women 293 mg, with men drawing more of it from cakes, scones and chocolate (P < 0.001). The scone share inside that group cannot be pulled out. The caution here is stored flour. Two adults in Singapore, both with allergic rhinitis and both intolerant of anti inflammatory drugs, had life threatening anaphylaxis, one of them an hour after eating home baked scones. In the same survey 4 of 57 household flour samples held live Dermatophagoides farinae mites, which is 7 percent. Two cases cannot give a risk, and what the authors describe is flour kept in a warm humid climate. Baked goods also carry an ordinary handling risk. Of 37 foodborne outbreaks reported across 42 Kenyan districts between 1970 and 1993, 13 were confirmed and involved 926 people, with bread, scones and other wheat products among the foods implicated, in old surveillance whose authors admit heavy under reporting. Children meet this category early. In 828 Australian toddlers of mean age 13.1 months, discretionary foods made up 11.2 percent of energy intake, and cakes, muffins, scones and cake type desserts made up 10.2 percent of that discretionary energy. The glucose finding at the top of this page rests on 32 of the 36 adults randomised, because samples were missing from at least one visit, and nothing larger on scones exists. We have no USDA composition entry for scone in this cohort, so this page gives no calories, sugar or fat per scone.

Sources

1. scon-daily-r1-06 · cross-sectional study
   Some categories had a large proportion that exceeded TFA limits: dairy-free cheeses (100%), frosting (72.0%), lard and shortening (66.7%), coffee whiteners (66.7%), and restaurant-prepared biscuits and scones (47.4%).
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2014 · checked 2026-09-24
2. scon-daily-r1-07 · cohort study
   whilst men had higher intakes of plant sterols from cakes, scones and chocolate, potatoes (all P<0.001)
   Eur J Clin Nutr, 2008 · checked 2026-09-24
3. scon-daily-r1-09 · cross-sectional study
   Cakes, muffins, scones, cake-type desserts contributed the most DF energy (8·4 %) of all food groups, followed by wines (8·1 %), pastries (8·0 %) and beers (6·1 %), with all these food groups consumed in large portions (2·3-3·0 DF servings).
   Public Health Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-09-24
4. scon-daily-r1-01 · randomised controlled trial
   The fiber scone significantly reduced postprandial glucose and insulin incremental areas under the curves (43-45% reduction, 35-40% reduction, respectively) and postprandial glucose and insulin maximum concentrations (8-10% and 22% reduction, respectively).
   Nutrients, 2018 · checked 2026-09-24
5. scon-daily-r1-02 · randomised controlled trial
   The fiber scone significantly reduced hunger and desire to eat during the 180 min following consumption and yielded no gastrointestinal side effects compared with the control scone.
   Nutrients, 2018 · checked 2026-09-24
6. scon-daily-r1-04 · randomised controlled trial
   Total serum testosterone fell in volunteers taking the soya scones (19.3-18.2 nmol/l; 95% CI 1.01, 1.12; P=0.03).
   Eur J Clin Nutr, 2003 · checked 2026-09-24
7. scon-daily-r1-05 · case reports
   Patient B developed similar life-threatening symptoms one hour after the ingestion of home baked scones.
   Asian Pac J Allergy Immunol, 2008 · checked 2026-09-24
8. scon-daily-r1-08 · uncontrolled before and after study
   Muffins sales (the higher-calorie item) fell by 30%, whereas sales of scones rose by 4%
   Nutrition, 2017 · checked 2026-09-24
9. scon-daily-r1-10 · cohort study
   Sweet biscuits, and cakes, muffins, scones and cake-type desserts contributed 10.8% and 10.2% of energy intake from discretionary foods, respectively.
   Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2019 · checked 2026-09-24
10. scon-daily-r1-03 · randomised controlled trial
    There were 32 subjects included in the glucose and insulin analyses because of missing samples from at least one of the test visits; 35 subjects were included in the satiety VAS, GI tolerability, and palatability analyses.
    Nutrients, 2018 · checked 2026-09-24
11. scon-daily-r1-11 · cross-sectional survey
    Foods that were involved included milk and milk products, meat and meat products, maize flour, bread, scones and other wheat products, vegetables and lemon pie pudding.
    East Afr Med J, 2001 · checked 2026-09-24