Kellogg's
According to USA Today, the same brand that falsely boasted Frosted Mini-Wheats were "clinically shown to improve kids' attentiveness by nearly 20%" is now under fire from critics due to a claim that Rice Krispies cereals help boost a kids immunity. The claim--which capitalizes on parents H1N1 fears in a particularly tough flu season--is being criticized for being opportunistic and inaccurate.
According to Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University who saw the false information splashed across a box of cereal back in August, "The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn't make sense. Yes, these nutrients are involved in immunity, but I can't think of a nutrient that isn't involved in the immune system." Nestle wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration at the time, but still has not heard back.
And while cereal boxes are not the first place parents go for balanced nutritional information, Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity says that Kellogg's immunity claim is silly enough to take a place in "the hall of fame" compared to other false claims. She explains,"By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity."
Last week, a city attorney for San Francisco also contacted the FDA, stating,"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."
While the FDA is not allowed to comment on cases it is considering, Kellogg's spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz says the cereal "was not created to capitalize on the current H1N1 flu situation," and that, in fact, Kellogg's had upped the amount of antioxidants in its cereal "in response to consumers expressing a need for more positive nutrition."
She also cites that the production of the new line of cereal had been in the works for over a year, and coincidentally rolled out in May 2009.
What do you think? Is Kellogg's guilty of false and/or opportunistic advertising or is this just a case of smart marketing meeting timely strategy? And should parents be alerted in either case, or is it just a necessary byproduct of a free market?
