Posted on 06/25/2009 10:20:57 AM PDT by NYer
The Washington Times ran an editorial about the Food and Drug Administration's recent warning to General Mills, Inc. about two claims the company has placed on its Cheerios boxes.
The marketing copy for Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal says that "Cheerios is clinically proven to reduce cholesterol 4 percent in 6 weeks" and that, "Cheerios can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, by lowering the 'bad' cholesterol."
So what's wrong with that? Well, according to the FDA, that means Cheerios will now be categorized as drugs, and regulated as such.
Susan Cruzan of the FDA's press office told The Washington Times the FDA is not objecting to the fact that clinical studies do, in fact, find that Cheerios do what General Mills claims. What concerns the FDA, according to Ms. Cruzan, is, "This is a food product, and they do have a health claim." Specifically, the agency objects to the preciseness of the claims, which she says would make the product classified as a drug. General Mills "could say 'heart disease,' but they are being specific and saying 'coronary heart disease,' " she explains.
The FDA is very strict about this stuff. Companies that sell supplements and produce food with health benefits -- even when there's science to support these benefits -- can't make specific claims as such on their labels. Only pharmaceutical drug companies, with the approval of the FDA, can do that.
I understand what might happen if marketers are allowed free-reign to make health claims about their products. But still... this is a big waste of money and time, especially considering the fact that the FDA acknowledges the truth of both of Cheerios' marketing statements.
Seriously, doesn't the FDA have better things to do?
First of all, I seriously doubt that the 4% is statistically significant.
Man I hope some of you Freepers can hook a man up, I mean I am hurt’n bad I need to scores some Cheerios soon man. Can’t one of you guys help me score?
So, if they can say any food is a “drug”, does that mean I can pay for it with 0bamacare?
Whats the confidence interval and standard deviation- if either are huge then it very well could be statistically significant. They usually only show 1 or 2 of the mean, standard deviation, and confidence interval in any statistics reporting - that way they don’t get nailed down by those annoying facts.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
I have jones’d over cocoa pebbles before, but never cheerios. A man has to have some dignity, you know.
They are a gateway drug, I think this is how Barack got started...
Cheerios with sliced banana was one of the things I craved when pregnant.
If you have a RIGHT to free healthcare then you have a RIGHT to free food, gas, and lodging.
Looks like the FDA has a lot of time on its hands.
Looks like GM can just remove the specific statistical claims.
Meanwhile the “men can be larger” pills are being hawked constantly on the boob tube with no restrictions, along with the diet pill scams.
Cheerios by any other name is still good for you!
I just hope they don’t make us get prescriptions for it!
How many date night’s could B.O. of had, with the money they wasted on this?Geez
It'll cost ya. Those Cheerios have some serious street value these days..
sw
Pssst.....pick your poison man.
I think he means "clinically significant."
Obviously a 4% decline alone doesnt sound like much. But I think General Mills has a fair point. If you can get a 4% bang out of just its product, think what you can get if you combine Cheerios with an overall plan to lower your cholesterol.
That could bring you into clinical significance.
I’d like to help a man in need, that’s just how I am.
At the moment, I am ‘Coco’ for Cocoa Puffs. I used to have a source for Fruit Loops, but he graduated the 6th grade and his family moved away. TonyT was taking care of my ‘Frosted Flakes’ stash, but I heard that he got run out of the pride by some new upstart by the name of Terence. Terence won’t respond to my tweets.
The truth is that Cheerios left a hole in my life, and did I fall down that hole. I am just thankful the we have Obama to save us from the 3:00AM stumble through the kitchen looking for just one more Cheerio to shove into our mouth.
I hear that GM is coming out with a new cereal called Tobacco Twists. A little milk and sugar and while you still may not be able to pay the mortgage, it won’t seem to be such a pressing problem.
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