Posted on 05/30/2009 5:18:33 AM PDT by FromLori
Based on the long-time claim by General Mills that its Cheerios cereal can lower cholesterol by 4 percent in just six weeks — when part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, of course — the Food and Drug Administration has admonished the giant breakfast cereal producer and said those claims mean the little round “o’s” of oats are to be considered a drug.
Simply by indicating the cereal is intended for use as a cholesterol-lowering product, it now falls under the FDA regulations regarding drugs, and because it’s a “new” drug by definition — never mind that the cholesterol ad has been around for about 2 years — it must be approved via a drug application before General Mills can continue making the claim, the FDA told the company in a letter May 5.
Now, it seems Cheerios can indeed be marketed as a healthy choice in the fight against heart disease because the FDA already has regulations authorizing the claim by products with soluable fiber from whole grain oats.
The FDA goes on to attack Cheerios’ box labeling and associated claims of healty diet and the reduction of cholesterol on the company website. The bottom line: Cheerios can’t say it reduces cholesterol without having gone through specific FDA-approved testing to back it up.
Make the claim and the FDA will regulate the cereal just like a drug.
So who got the FDA all up in arms about the cereal box labeling? The National Consumers League back in September flagged the feds to Cheerios’ “drug-like claims, calling the ads “magic bullet health claims” that are impermissible under the law and “properly reserved to cholesterol-lowering medications.”
For its bit, General Mills issued a statement saying “Cheerios’ soluble fiber heart health claim has been FDA-approved for 12 years. …The science is not in question…and the clinical study supporting Cheerios’ cholesterol-lowering benefit is very strong. We are in dialog with the FDA.”
The agency gave the Minneapolis-based company 15 days to come up with a decision on what to do.
Sorry, FDA, you lose. Case closed.
That's not a "claim", but a "possiblity".
It’s not about truth in advertising, it’s about overreaching government control.
Cheerios has made this claim on its boxes for 12 years and the FDA supported it. It is disingenuous for them to say that the claims on the box make the cereal a drug. Cheerios’ claim is consistent with proper nutrition and diet. If they can regulate anything nutrition-related based on its benefits and detriments and on that basis call it a “drug”, they can control what you eat.
I am offended that they insult our intelligence by claiming that nutrition benefits make a food product a “drug.”
The claim is either valid or it isn’t. If it is valid, it is nutrition-related. Companies are allowed to advertise the benefits of their products. If it is not valid, why did the FDA approve the statement for so long?
Oh my,I was at my Cardiologist office yesterday for a six month check up..He ask me if I need any refills on my medications..I said No..Well had I of know I could have had him write me a prescriptions for Cheerios..I wonder since it is a drug if our insurance will pay for the Cheerios...
Good luck with getting that kind of prescription lol they prescribed me vitamin D in a massive dose you can ONLY get as a prescription and even though we pay $225.46 a week for our health care coverage they wouldn’t pay for it.
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