Cereal Claims Immunity Boost
November 2,2009
USA Today
by Bruce Horovitz
Kellogg, the nation’s largest cereal maker, is being called to task by critics who object to the swine flu-conscious claim now bannered in bold lettering on the front of Cocoa Krispies cereal boxes: “Now helps support your child’s IMMUNITY.”
Of all claims on cereal boxes, “this one belongs in the hall of fame,” says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. “By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity.”
As the H1N1 virus worries parents and threatens children, the claim of supporting immunity is compelling to many. But it comes at a time foodmakers are being held more accountable for claims. The industry’s self-created “Smart Choices” nutrition-labeling program was voluntarily halted recently after federal regulators expressed concern that such programs may be misleading.
Last week, San Francisco sent a letter to Kellogg and to the Food and Drug Administration asking Kellogg to prove its claim. “I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children,” said Dennis Herrera, the city attorney.
Kellogg says the critics are wrong. Development of the line started more than a year ago, and it was rolled out in May 2009. “It was not created to capitalize on the current H1N1 flu situation,” spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz says. “Kellogg developed this product in response to consumers expressing a need for more positive nutrition.”
Since studies showed that antioxidant vitamins A, C and E play an important role in the immune system, Kellogg increased its amount in the line — which includes Rice Krispies — from 10% daily value to 25% daily value, Norwitz says.
“The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn’t make sense,” says Marion Nestle, nutrition professor at New York University. “Yes, these nutrients are involved in immunity, but I can’t think of a nutrient that isn’t involved in the immune system.” Nestle saw the claims at a grocery store in August and sent a letter to the FDA. She hasn’t heard back.
The FDA has jurisdiction over false or misleading labeling. FDA officials are not permitted to discuss specific cases under consideration and declined to comment on this one.
click here for the full report
FDA Takes Aim at Misleading Food Labels
October 21, 2009
Abc News
By Lisa Stark and Huma Khan
It’s not unusual for a box of cereal to bear labels touting numerous health benefits. Pick up a box of Cocoa Puffs, and General Mills says you’ve made a healthy choice. Kellogg’s Froot Loops also qualifies for a Smart Choices label.
But the ubiquitous label — a white sticker with a green check mark — is increasingly appearing on products that critics say are not so nutritionally smart.
Smart Choices is one of the many programs developed by grocery stores, scientists, health organizations and manufacturers themselves to steer health-conscious shoppers to supposedly nutritional products. But the government is stepping in and cracking down, saying the different systems are too confusing.
The Food and Drug Administration says it will analyze labels to make sure they are not misleading and is hoping to develop a nutritional gold standard for products that manufacturers want to label as healthy.
That may not be such a bad move, some experts say.
“When you have 40 percent sugar, can you imagine that? Half the box with grain and half of the box with sugar, that’s not such a smart choice,” Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said of Froot Loops.
When contacted by ABC News, Kellogg’s deferred to a statement by the Smart Choices Program defending the labeling.
The program “was developed during an open and lengthy collaborative process that included some of the most experienced and accomplished professionals in nutrition science,” Mike Hughes, chairman of the Smart Choices Program, said in the statement, adding that it “complies with all U.S. laws and regulations.”
Still, Jacobson’s Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group wants the FDA to implement a national standard for labeling on the front of packages and even urged lawmakers on Capitol Hill to provide funding to research a system.
It’s not just cereals that mislead consumers, Jacobson said. He also pointed to Kraft’s Strawberry Bagelful, which he said is stuffed with cream cheese and strawberry puree sweetened with sugar and colored with red dye. It also has a Smart Choices label.
“You have these conflicting systems and some of them are flawed; that not so healthy foods get the symbol,” he said.
It is a system that concerns the FDA, too, and the agency is warning food companies that it will analyze labels to make sure they are not misdirecting consumers.
