By John Chappell •
September 28, 2009
General Mills and Kellogg’s want to sell sugary processed foods like Froot Loops and Lucky Charms to your kids. This isn’t anything new. But under the guise of the new “Smart Choices” Program, large food corporations want to proudly label sugary, highly processed foods as good nutritional food options.
The program was recently created by a conglomerate of conglomerates, including ConAgra Foods, Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods, Pepsico, Tyson Foods, and Unilever. The participating companies list all their products that “meet a comprehensive set of nutrition criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other sources of nutrition science and authoritative dietary guidance”. You can review the Smart Choices website for yourself.
By Cate Nelson •
May 28, 2009
In one more laughable act, the FDA recently sent a warning letter to popular cereal maker General Mills to discuss the drug they manufacture. You know, that donut-shaped drug you can pop by the handful:
Based on claims made on your product’s label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug.
Let’s see: the FDA failed consumers when it came to the peanut-Salmonella outbreak. It recently suggested lifting the fish consumption warnings for children and pregnant women, despite mercury worries (and not to mention the mercury in high fructose corn syrup!). When U.S. infant formula was found to have low levels of melamine–but still above international standards for the chemical–the FDA simply said, “Meh. We’ll just raise the amount allowable.”
The Food and Drug Administration is busy ignoring all of these potentially problematic issues, but has plenty of time to harass a cereal company about its claims about whole grains. Seriously?!
By Derek Markham •
January 29, 2009
Uncle Eddie’s Vegan Cookies is the latest victim of the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak, recalling its über-delicious Uncle Eddies Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies because they contain peanut butter supplied by Peanut Corporation of America.
The recent Salmonella outbreak initially seemed to be confined to the mainstream food system, but with the recall of Clif and Luna bars, people are starting to realize that just because you buy natural foods, you aren’t any safer from some inherent weaknesses in our supply chain.
When a product from one factory can infect hundreds, possibly thousands, of people all over the country, our reach is too big. We can’t possibly be ensured of the safety of our food with a system like ours.
