KRAFT KAVES! Maker of Oreos to Revamp Products: Cites Obesity

Associated Press -- "Kraft to Revamp Products: Cites Obesity" ^ | July 1, 2003 | Deborah Cohen

[L.N. Smithee]

By Deborah Cohen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of processed foods, on Tuesday said it would cap portion sizes, eliminate marketing in schools and reformulate some products as the food industry faces increasing legal blame for obesity and unhealthy eating trends.

The maker of Oreo cookies and Velveeta cheese spreads said this year it will develop a range of standards to improve the overall nutritional content of its products and the way it sells them. It will begin making changes to the way it manufactures and markets foods beginning next year.

The cost of the measures, which are sweeping, could not be estimated, according to a spokesman for the company, based in the Chicago suburb of Northfield, Illinois.

Critics are quick to point out that Kraft may be on the defensive at a time of heightened criticism over the role big food companies play in contributing to growing health problems in the United States. No. 1 fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. has already been the target of a highly publicized lawsuit linking its burgers to obesity in children.

"This is sort of a preemptive move to stave off the lawyers and the critics," said Henry Anhalt, an endocrinologist and director of the "Kids Weight Down" program at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.

"What I think is going on is that the soothsayers are saying that coming down the pike are going to be large lawsuits, class action suits looking at cardiovascular disease, premature death, diabetes, and they're going to turn to the food industry and lay it on their feet," he said.

Still, he applauded Kraft for making changes that he believes will make a difference. Kraft could set standards that other major food companies could follow.

Obesity among adults in the United States has doubled since 1980, and tripled among adolescents, according to the U.S. surgeon general.

Kraft acknowledged that the moves may in part help indemnify the company against potential lawsuits.

"We're making these commitments first and foremost because we think it is the right thing to do for the people who use our products and for our business, but if it also discourages a plaintiff's attorney or unfair legislation, that's fine with us." said Michael Mudd, a Kraft spokesman.

GLOBAL EFFORTS

Kraft said its efforts would be global, focusing on product nutrition, marketing practices, information for consumers and public advocacy. It is forming an advisory council to help develop standards for the company's approach to health issues.

Marketing fatty and sugar-laden foods to children has been a hot-button in the news. Last week, New York City's school system decided to remove candy, soda and sweet snacks from school vending machines.

Last month, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) said that agency plans to push for expanded nutritional labeling on food products.

Kraft said the changes it will make will include advertising and marketing to children to encourage appropriate eating behaviors and active lifestyles.

The company, which used to promote its products on Channel One, a news channel played in secondary schools, will now cease all in-school marketing.

Other big food industry players are also taking defensive measures. McDonald's in March announced worldwide initiatives to help promote healthy lifestyles and provide consumers with expanded product information. It has also assembled an advisory council.

"This is an ongoing battle," said Keith Patriquin, a buy-side analyst with Loomis Sayles, which holds shares of Kraft and other big food names. "Trial lawyers ... are looking for the next big thing."

Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed in California seeking to ban Kraft's Oreo cookies. The suit, which drew criticism in legal circles for potentially abusing the U.S. court system, was withdrawn less than two weeks later.

Shares of Kraft, which is majority owned by tobacco giant Altria Group Inc., were off 25 cents at $34.30 in mid-morning New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) trading. (With reporting by Brad Dorfman in Chicago)

[FairOpinion]

And who is holding a gun to your head to eat them?

[Laura Earl]

I read a study on the McDonalds and other fast food salads, and if you aren't careful, you can rack up more calories and fat with those bad boys than you can with a burger and small fries.

[tiamat]

I've never had a Krispy Kreme. Are they really that good?

Tia

[Bluntpoint]

Cookies should be regulated. In this day and age nobody needs a cookie unless he can show a real and immediate need for one.

[areafiftyone]

Actually they didn't have as many snacks in the stores as they do now!! I can't believe some of the snacks, cereals and cookies geared towards kids. We had a cookie jar and that was it. You had 2 or three cookies and were content with that. But fruit was available at all times of course. But we burned off anything we ate because we were active. Kids are too lazy nowadays!

[Laura Earl]

And who is holding a gun to your head to eat them?

What are you getting at? You mean we should actually be accountable for our own actions. Yikes! ;)

[Laura Earl]

Not nearly as many. I always preferred fruit to junk food. And give me a fruit tree or grapevine where I can pick and eat it right there, and I'm in heaven.

[drjoe]

You got that right. I wonder how you "reformulate" a chocolate cookie with creamy filling dipped in fudge to make it more healthful.


Well they not only can do it, They did it. A few years ago they changed the formulation of OREOs and ruined, I say RUINED, both the taste and texture. Something to do with the mix of fats in the product. Ugh!!!

[EggsAckley]

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE

[Corin Stormhands]

Heh...I can limit my Oreos. But open a box of Thin Mints and I won't stop 'til they're all gone.

[Williams]

Nobody. I'm not complaining, I'm just showing my credentials as a lover of bad for you food. But I'm not going to flip out if Kraft makes the Oreos "healthier" (and I wouldn't bet on it). Go to the store and see how many varieties there are of "healthy" granola with peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallow, etc. It's one of the oldest marketing scams.

[gridlock]

Geez oh man, it isn't the Oreos or the Velveeta making America fat. It's FReepin all day. I know that's my problem at least.....

Try yelling at your monitor and banging strenuously on the table at least five times an hour. I find that works for me!

[Bluntpoint]

If you could only buy Thin Mints with a prescription would that help?

[Dane]

BINGO!!! When I was a kid we didn't have cable and didn't even have a color TV until the early 70's and the TV's only had the local channels. We didn't have computers and we were outside after school until dinner time playing sports. Then if it was summer we went out again to play after dinner. On the weekends if we didn't go somewhere with the family we were out playing again! The kids nowadays have too many opportunities so sit inside - computers, video games, cable/digital tv, big screen TV's, DVD's, VCR's, etc. We didn't have those when I was a kid in the 60's and we were soo skinny you couldn't put weight on us if you tried. Get the kids out of the house and into sports or outdoor games and you won't see huge kids anymore!

Ditto Bingo! A very early Simpson's episode(when they were actually on the cutting edge, satirical wise) portrayed that. It was when Marge was railing against "Itchy and Scratchy" and due to Marge's insistence the Itchy and Scartchy cartoons became PC.

That Simpson's episode then showed the kids "waking up" from thier slumber and doing normal kid things such as climbing trees, playing hopscotch, and just expending energy and not staying inside playing video games all day.

[najida]

Not nearly as many. I always preferred fruit to junk food. And give me a fruit tree or grapevine where I can pick and eat it right there, and I'm in heaven.

Yeppers...

Our blueberry bushes are loaded right now and we go out several times a day just to graze.

And the scuppernongs and muscadine vines are fillin' out nicely too ;)

Who needs a cookie!?

[Corin Stormhands]

Never really helped with my other addictions...

[adam_az]

Hydrogenated oils are very unhealthful - Crisco for example is much worse for you than lard or beef tallow. Many of these vegetable fats are also extracted using chemical solvents and high heat, which damages them, producing lots of "free radicals" which are more likely to kill you than even radicals like UBL. ;)

Refined sugar is nothing worth defending either, as those who have lost weight by restricting carbohydrates have learned. Keep in mind that refined sugar and white flour (the other empty carb foisted on us as "food" by the chemists) are only 100 years old. Our bodies aren't built to handle the insulin surges this kind of carb overdose produces.

An oreo once in a while isn't going to kill you, but you are better off eating like your parents or grandparents did. The crap they sell today isn't an improvement, except in their profit by selling you 5 cents of white flour denuded of nutrients, salt, lots of cheap high fructose corn syrup sugar, and some artificial flavor and color for $2.99, with the colorful bag costing more to manufacture than the food.

BTW I suspect there are a lot of Atkins dieting Freepers - us Republicans can't resist all that red meat. Hope you pop up on this thread.

[Shooter 2.5]

What they aren't saying is they'r eliminating T-Fat or Partially Hydragenated oils from the Oreo cookies. Studies have shown that T-Fat allows plaque to bond to arteries.

It doesn't take much to block an artery. I'm not describing the large ventricals from the heart. I'm describing the tiny veins that feed the muscles to the heart. Block just one of those veins and you kill the muscle. That's called a heart attack.

[hattend]

Kids are fat today cuz the won't run and play outside but instead sit on their butts playing Playstation.

Same with adults except substitute Playstation with computer.

BTTT

[hattend]

Next, they will edit the ten commandments to 6 or 7.

Already been done. Lying, stealing and fornication are mostly legal nowadays.