Federal Trade Commission Stops Kellogg from Claiming Frosted Mini-Wheats “Improv

[Guest guest]

Notice the part about food dyes!

Elyse

Federal Trade Commission Stops Kellogg from Claiming Frosted Mini-Wheats

" Improve Kids' Attentiveness " in School

Statement of CSPI Legal Affairs Director Bruce Silverglade

The astonishing claims made by Kellogg that its Frosted Mini-Wheats improved

children's attentiveness by 20 percent were laughable on their face and never

should have surfaced in an advertising campaign by a major food manufacturer.

The settlement announced today by the Federal Trade Commission is a strong sign

the false advertising cop is back on the beat, and the agency will no longer

tolerate misleading health claims. We hope this is the just the beginning of a

coordinated new effort to rein in dishonest advertising and marketing by food

companies. The FTC could require much stronger remedies, such as corrective

advertising. In addition, Congress should expand the FTC's authority to level

civil penalties.

Incidentally, if Kellogg sincerely wanted to improve children's attentiveness,

it would phase out the use of Blue 1, Blue 2, Red 40, and any other synthetic

food dyes that show up in some varieties of Mini-Wheats. Those dyes exacerbate

some children's hyperactivity and behavioral problems, and have no place in

foods aimed squarely at children.