http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149857.php

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124216077825612187.html

Quote :

"The Food and Drug Administration slapped General Mills Inc. with a warning over its Cheerios cereal, saying the box's claims about heart benefits contain "serious violations" of federal law."

Quote :

"Stephen Sundlof, the director of the FDA's food-safety center, said the agency has noticed a tendency by food companies to cross the line into the drug category by making specific health claims on packaging."

Im not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand I guess its ok for legitimately healthy foods to market themselves as such, on the other hand they should not be making bullshit claims that are based on nothing. And on the third hand, people that are dumb enough to believe any magical claims on food labels are idiots as well. So, is this a case of the FDA overstepping and acting like a nanny, or are they right in their claims.

I report, you decide

[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 2:32 PM. Reason : .]

6/19/2009 2:32:01 PM

[old]

pretty sure there's a thread about it in here somewhere.

6/19/2009 2:35:43 PM

my bunx, i searched n didnt find it

[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 2:37 PM. Reason : .]

6/19/2009 2:36:25 PM

Quote :

"So, is this a case of the FDA overstepping and acting like a nanny, or are they right in their claims."

Wasn't one of the reasons behind the FDA to create a nanny that wouldn't let us buy snake oil?

6/19/2009 2:40:16 PM

yup, which is why I played devils advocate

6/19/2009 2:49:53 PM

Mixed feelings on this. I don't believe companies should be able to exaggerate, or fudge the truth, advertising their products. There is nothing in Cheerios that makes it healthy or good for you. It's a highly processed cereal with added sugar. Now, compared to a Full English Breakfast, yeah its good for your heart. But that is because eating a shit ton of eggs, butter, ham, with carbs isn't good for you, not because Cheerios is good. So it's highly misleading.

I don't like a lot of what the FDA does, but in this case I think it is good thing for them to do. There is nothing wrong with not letting companies mislead the public through advertising.

Quote :

"And on the third hand, people that are dumb enough to believe any magical claims on food labels are idiots as well."

Agree, but in this case GM is saying clinical trails prove Cheerios are good for your heart, which isn't true. Nothing wrong from not letting companies lie to the public, even though they would be idiots to believe everything a company says.

6/19/2009 2:55:26 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=566358&page=1

not a thread in the soap box i believe

6/19/2009 3:00:56 PM

i missed that one, my bunx

6/19/2009 3:04:24 PM

So are we talking about the validity of Cheerios' claim or are we talking about what's actually being discussed in the OP articles?

Quote :

"The letter does not address the veracity of the claims, it addresses the point that by making such claims then the product is really a drug and should go through the proper channels for obtaining drug approval. "

Quote :

"Agree, but in this case GM is saying clinical trails prove Cheerios are good for your heart, which isn't true. Nothing wrong from not letting companies lie to the public, even though they would be idiots to believe everything a company says."

Any evidence to cite for this claim?

6/19/2009 3:05:46 PM

Doesn't the box read: "May reduce your cholesterol"? I guess I'm the only one that sees that and reads "Won't reduce your cholesterol".

The claim on the box is one thing. The commercials with kids forcing Cheerios down their parents throats because they're afraid they'll die from a heart attack are another.

Quote :

"The letter does not address the veracity of the claims, it addresses the point that by making such claims then the product is really a drug and should go through the proper channels for obtaining drug approval."

Lol. Come on. All food contains 'drugs' then. Do you have to get drug approval for oranges. Pretty sure I've seen some Florida Orange Council stuff about the health benefits of oranges. Eating lettuce may reduce cholesterol. Quick, pull it from the shelves for FDA approval - meanwhile they let drugs with proven fatal side effects breeze on through.

[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 3:13 PM. Reason : -]

6/19/2009 3:08:10 PM

totally legitimate for them to step in.

The Cheerios commercials have bothered me from the beginning, and i'm glad to find out it was for a good reason. What a bunch of shit - "Cheerios can lower your cholesterol". bah. And the commercials made Cheerios appear to be a kind of drug, with actors saying things like "i'll eat Cheerios every day to lower my cholesterol in 4 weeks!"

and they "studies" the claim is based on?

Quote :

"Based largely on studies of oatmeal, in 1997 the Food and Drug Administration approved a health claim that the soluble fiber in oats can help lower cholesterol. (That's the claim you'll see on Cheerios boxes.) Are there any studies on the cereal itself? "

Quote :

"In a General-Mills-sponsored study published in 1998, people with high cholesterol levels were told to follow an American Heart Association diet (which is low in saturated fat) for six weeks. Those who were assigned to eat three cups of Cheerios a day lowered their cholesterol more than those who ate three cups of cornflakes."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_8_32/ai_n15691320/

the claims made on the commercials and boxes, based on those studies, don't get much more disingenuous and misleading than that.....

6/19/2009 3:12:10 PM

I always thought the claim to lower cholesterol had some sort of fine print associated to it:

*When substituting eating a 1/2 pound of sausage for eating Cheerios - as part of a well balanced breakfast.

6/19/2009 3:16:22 PM

nm

[Edited on June 19, 2009 at 3:20 PM. Reason : .]

6/19/2009 3:18:03 PM

Quote :

"There is nothing in Cheerios that makes it healthy or good for you. It's a highly processed cereal with added sugar."

Those 2 statements are not mutually exclusive.

Cheerios have soluble fiber from oats, which is one of the healthiest things on the planet. Whether Cheerios as a whole is healthy for you or not, I don't know. A medium- to long-term double blind study with lots of participants is the only way to find out. But, it does contain many ingredients that are healthy.

At the same time, I am against processed cereals and hate GM and Kellogg's, for harming many millions of children around the world.

Eating whole grains (not flakes/structures made from pulverized grains) is the way to go.

6/19/2009 8:47:57 PM

^ there are a lot of ways to go.

and honey nut cheerios is delicious, go crusade against fast food and soft drink makers and leave my honey nut cheerios alone.

6/19/2009 10:35:04 PM

Totally agreed.

Fast food makers, soft drink makers, and junk food makers are some of the worst people ever to live, worse than people such as OBL, Kim Jong Il, Bush, Saddam, etc. in at least one metric. (if you go by the numbers killed by those foods)

Cheerios is way down the line, indeed if it is even on the same line. (not because it is a cereal, as some cereals are just as bad as fast food or junk food, but because I believe that far from being harmful, it can indeed be relatively healthful)

6/19/2009 11:29:56 PM