Search results: Cereal

Kraft Foods is selling off Post cereals to Ralcorp Holdings, a company that markets foods under private labels. Kraft had revenues of $34 billion in 2006, of which $21 billion came from U.S. consumers; its profits were about $3 billion. It spent $105 million to advertise Post cereals that year, down 23% from 2005, clearly a sign of disinterest. Kraft used to be owned by Altria which used to be Philip Morris which bought Kraft for $12.9 billion in 1988. Post makes Fruity Pebbles and runs a website for kids. European food analysts speculate that Kraft is doing this because of “the double whammy of high cereal prices and strict legislation on advertising to children.”  Kraft’s products have never been endorsed by the American Heart Association, because that organization does not accepts payments for its HeartCheck certification for products owned by cigarette companies.  My question: will the American Heart Association endorsement now start appearing on Post cereals?

… You can appreciate why I so enjoy the cereal aisle. I like reading the health claims on the processed cereals and wondering what marketers will dream up next. The packages are, in their weird way, fun to look at. They represent the best thinking of marketers about how to get you to eat processed cereals, to believe that they are good for you, and to insist that nothing else will do for breakfast. (more…)

The latest trend in kid’s cereals is to emphasize how many vitamins and minerals they have, but many of these are so high in sugar that they are really vitamin-enriched, low-fat cookies.

The MAHA Commission released its report last week: The MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again.  Assessment.

This is one impressive report, forcefully written and tightly documented (it cites my work, among that of many others).

Overall, it paints a devastating portrait of how our society has failed our children.

It begins by stating that “The health of American children is in crisis” due to:

• Poor diet
• Aggregation of environmental chemicals
• Lack of physical activity and chronic stress
• Overmedicalization

The result: high rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, neurodevelopmental disorders, cancer, allergies  and mental health problems among kids.

Here are some selected items I particularly appreciated in the report.  The bullet points are direct quotes.

On poor diet

• Most American children’s diets are dominated by ultra – processed foods (UPFs ) high in added sugars , chemical additives , and saturated fats, while lacking sufficient intakes of fruits and vegetables.
• Pesticides , microplastics , and dioxins are commonly found in the blood and urine of American children and pregnant women— some at alarming levels.
• Children are exposed to numerous chemicals , such as heavy metals , PFAS , pesticides , and phthalates, via their diet, textiles, indoor air pollutants, and consumer products.
• To get into schools , many food companies have reformulated their products with minor ingredient adjustments to qualify for the federal Smart Snack program by meeting the school nutrition standards, which children can purchase separate from school meals.

The driving factors for poor diets

• Consolidation of the food system
• Distorted nutrition research and marketing
• Compromised dietary guidelines

On the dietary guidelines  

They maintain problematic reductionist recommendations, such as:

• Advising people to “reduce saturated fat” or “limit sodium” instead of focusing on minimizing ultra-processed foods.
• Treating all calories similarly, rather than distinguishing between nutrient-dense foods and ultra-processed products.
• Remain largely agnostic to how foods are produced or processed: There is little distinction between industrially processed foods and home-cooked or whole foods if their nutrient profiles look similar.
• Added sugars, saturated fats and sodium are treated as proxies for ultra-processed foods. For instance, a cup of whole-grain ready to eat fortified breakfast cereal and a cup of oatmeal with fruit might both count as “whole grain servings,” and the guidelines do not weigh in on differences in processing.

They also,

• Do not explicitly address UPFs.
• Have a history of being unduly influenced by corporate interests .

On food systems

• The greatest step the United States can take to reverse childhood chronic disease is to put whole foods produced by American farmers and ranchers at the center of healthcare.
• Traditional Field Crops vs. Specialty Crops : Historically, federal crop insurance programs have primarily covered traditional field crops like wheat , corn , and soybeans, while providing much less support for specialty crops such as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery plants.

On Corporate Capture 

• Although the U.S. health system has produced remarkable breakthroughs, we must face the troubling reality that the threats to American childhood have been exacerbated by perverse incentives that have captured the regulatory bodies and federal agencies tasked with overseeing them .
• Limited comparisons between industry-funded research versus non- industry studies have raised concerns over potential biases in industry-funded research…Additionally, some industry leaders have engaged in promoting ghostwriting and sponsored reviews to influence the scientific literature.
• Notably, this ghostwriting strategy mirrors tactics used by the tobacco industry to distort scientific consensus is largely propelled by “corporate capture,” in which industry interests dominate and distort scientific literature, legislative actions, academic institutions, regulatory agencies, medical journals, physician organizations, clinical guidelines, and the news media.
• The pharmaceutical industry, with its vast resources and influence, is a primary driver of this capture, though similar dynamics pervade the food and chemical industries.

Research recommendations

• GRAS Oversight Reform: Fund independent studies evaluating the health impact of self-affirmed GRAS food ingredients, prioritizing risks to children and informing transparent FDA rulemaking.
• Nutrition Trials: NIH should fund long-term trials comparing whole-food, reduced-carb, and low-UPF diets in children to assess effects on obesity and insulin resistance.
• Large-scale Lifestyle Interventions: Launch a coordinated national lifestyle-medicine initiative that embeds real-world randomized trials-covering integrated interventions in movement, diet, light exposure, and sleep timing-within existing cohorts and EHR networks.

Comment

The report has been criticized for not getting some of the science right.  The agriculture industry is particularly concerned about the attack on the chemicals it uses.  It is said to be outraged by the report.  The report did throw Big Ag this bone: “Today, American farmers feed the world, American companies lead the world, and American energy powers the world.”

But the report raises one Big Question:  What policies will this administration come up with to deal with these problems?  These, presumably, will be in the next report, due in about 80 days.

This is an extraordinary report, a breath of fresh air in many ways, and I would love to know who wrote it.

But to fix the problems it raises will require taking on not only Big Ag, but also Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Chemical, and other industries affected by these and its other recommendations (the report also says a lot about drugs and mental health).  Big Ag has already weighed in.  Others are sure to follow.

Oh.  And it’s hard to know how policies can be implemented, given the destructive cuts to FDA, CDC, and NIH personnel and budget.

I will be watching this one.  Stay tuned.

Resources

• The press release: MAHA Commission Unveils Landmark Report Exposing Root Causes of Childhood Chronic Disease Crisis
• The Executive Order establishing the MAHA Commission
• The Commission report: Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment

Additional resource

• Errol Schweizer sent me his analysis on Medium, well worth reading.

 

We need good news.  This announcement comes from the Norwegian government.

It will still be legal to sell these products to children and youth, but marketing unhealthy products to this group will be illegal.

When it comes to products covered by the ban, the most unhealthy products, such as candy, soft drinks, ice cream and energy drinks, cannot be marketed particularly towards children. For other products, such as cereals, yogurt and fast food, limits for different nutrients are used to cover the most unhealthy products in these categories. For example, for breakfast cereals, the content of sugar and dietary fibre determines whether the product can be marketed particularly towards children or not.

The foods that are covered by the ban are listed in a product list attached to the regulation (in Norwegian, PDF).

I looked for an English translation and found this from Obesity Action Scotland:

The ban on unhealthy food advertising will cover all forms of marketing, including television, print, online, and in schools. Products affected by the ban include sugary drinks, salty snacks, and fast food…The regulation will ban the advertising of unhealthy foods that are high in fat, salt, or sugar. It will also ban the advertising of foods that are marketed as being “healthy” or “natural,” if they are high in unhealthy ingredients.

Impressive!  I wish RFK Jr’s MAHA campaign would do this as well as removing color additives.

Thanks to Marit Kolby for sending this.

I am greatly in favor of removing synthetic dyes from foods, and applaud RFK Jr’s enthusiasm for doing this.

The Mic Drop (according to Bakery & Snacks): ““If you want to eat petroleum, do it at home. But don’t feed it to our children.”

But this is not a ban.  Not even close.

Here’s the official announcement.

The FDA is taking the following actions:

1. Establishing a national standard and timeline for the food industry to transition from petrochemical-based dyes to natural alternatives.
2. Initiating the process to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings—Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B—within the coming months.
3. Working with industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes—FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2—from the food supply by the end of next year.
4. Authorizing four new natural color additives in the coming weeks, while also accelerating the review and approval of others.
5. Partnering with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct comprehensive research on how food additives impact children’s health and development.
6. Requesting food companies to remove FD&C Red No. 3 sooner than the 2027-2028 deadline previously required.

“Working with industry?”  “Requesting food companies?”  That’s all?

Food companies have never done anything voluntarily that they didn’t have to.  No company wants to go first and risk losing market share.

Food companies need a firm, mandated level playing field.  Despite the rhetoric, this does not do that.

For one thing, food companies were not part of the announcement and deny agreeing to it.  As Bloomberg reported, Food Industry Says There’s No Agreement With US Health Agency to Cut Dyes,

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his agency and the Food and Drug Administration had an “understanding” with the industry about their removal on a voluntary basis.

Yet multiple people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said there was no agreement…When asked Tuesday why industry groups said there was no agreement on dyes, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said “no one said there was an agreement.” He called it “an understanding.”

Food companies can—and should—get rid of these dyes.

Here’s what’s at stake for them.

The box at the left comes from France (2024); the cereal is colored with vegetable dyes.

The box at the right comes from Canada (2025); the cereal is colored with artificial dyes.

Kids greatly prefer brightly colored cereals; they think they taste better.  The companies that tried getting rid of the dyes lost sales.  That won’t do it for them.

I hope food companies comply with RFK Jr’s understanding.  Will they?  We will see.

Resources [and thoughts] on all this

My video interview with CNN about this and my cereal box collection

The HHS press conference

FDA Commissioner Marty Makery’s statement [He manages to sound sensible throughout].

Stat News coverage:  “Food companies agree to phase out synthetic dyes, handing MAHA a victory.” [Hmm.  Not sure about that].

Food companies have voluntarily consented to getting rid of the artificial dyes, Makary said, but there is currently no formal agreement or ban. “I believe in love, and let’s start in a friendly way and see if we can do this without any statutory or regulatory changes,” he said.

Fox News coverage of “RFK bans petroleum-based food dyes”  The Tweet (X) says “We use chemicals in Fruit Loops (sic) that are banned in virtually every country in the world,” says @SecKennedy” [Not exactly.  The UK requires a warning label.  I bought that box in Canada a couple of months ago.]

RFK Jr also says: “If you look at the ingredients for Fruit Loops 20 years ago it was very very different than it is today.”  [Nope.  I’ve got a complete set of Froot Loop box facsimilies since the first year they were introduced—1963.  They had all those dyes from the beginning; they just were listed as certified or artificial colors until they had to be fully disclosed in 1993].

Calley Means on how these dyes are poisoning children and call on Democrats to work with MAHA [Low salaries combined with job instability may be a hard sell].

Vani Hari (the Food Babe) reports on her speech at the HHS press conference and elebrates [She’s been trying to get dyes out of foods for years]

There is never a dull moment with Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s taking over the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Wall Street Journal announced this first: RFK Jr. Plans 10,000 Job Cuts in Major Restructuring of Health Department

Kennedy on Thursday said the agency would ax 10,000 full-time employees spread across agencies tasked with responding to disease outbreaks, approving new drugs, providing insurance for the poorest Americans and more. The cuts are in addition to roughly 10,000 employees who chose to leave the department through voluntary separation offers since President Trump took office, according to the department.

Together, the cuts would eliminate about one-quarter of a workforce that would shrink to 62,000. The department would lose five of its 10 regional offices.

As practically its last act under the Biden Administration, the FDA  Revoked Authorization for the Use of Red No. 3 in Food and Ingested Drugs.

The FDA is revoking the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 as a matter of law, based on the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The FDA is amending its color additive regulations to no longer allow for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food and ingested drugs in response to a 2022 color additive petition.

The Delaney Clause says the FDA cannot consider any substance that causes cancer in animals to be GRAS (generally recognized as safe).

Red 3 was associated with cancer in laboratory animals 30 years ago but the FDA considered the issue low priority and nobody complained until the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed its petition.  Then the FDA had to act.

For food safety advocates, this has been a long time coming.

The FDA’s action fits well with the Make America Health Again (MAHA) agenda.

Vani Hari (the Food Babe) says:

thefoodbabe (@Vani Hari) posted: It’s truly amazing what can happen when we put our differences aside & work together, it took a lot of loud American voices to get the FDA to ban red #3. Big thanks to @CSPI @ewg @SenRonJohnson @SenSanders @TTuberville @realannapaulina @CFSTrueFood @CoryBooker @RobertKennedyJr

She points out that this is only the first salvo in getting artificial food colors out of the food supply, especially breakfast cereals.

thefoodbabe (@Vani Hari) posted: .@KelloggsUS refusal to sit down with us will be biggest PR mistake in the Food Industry.

Food dyes may not be the most important food concern but they are unnecessary cosmetics and ought to be low hanging fruit for action.  Getting rid of them is long overdue.

Comment

RFK, Jr promised to get the artificial food dyes out of cereals as soon as he could be appointed HHS Secretary.  Will he do that immediately, or will this need to wait for the MAHA Commission action report in 6 months?  We shall see.

Press accounts

• The Washington Post – FDA bans controversial red dye found in candy, drinks and snacks
• cnnbrk (@CNN Breaking News) posted: FDA bans red dye No. 3 from food and ingested drugs in the US, more than 30 years after scientists discovered links to cancer in animals
• New York Times: F.D.A. Bans Red Dye 3 in Foods, Linking It to Cancer in Rats