Walking down the breakfast aisles at your local supermarket you will find a masterful selection of fantastic cartoon graphics printed proudly on brightly colored boxes with seemingly lovable characters, many known since childhood, assaulting and seducing us with nothing short of misleading marketing tall tales.  

Kellogg’s seems to be particularly adept at reeling us in with their less than healthy sugar laden choices. Take for instance their courageous Captain Crunch, or their colorful fruity loop toucan, or their seemingly squeaky clean Special K and their Snap Crackle Pop Cocoa Krispies.

The first three boast being members of the self appointedSmart Choice Club designated by a green (of all colors) check mark on the box, which is supposed to have you believe that the product is nutritionally sound and “A Smart Choice”.  Actually these disingenuous green check marks which have popped up on many supermarket items were created and paid for by the very companies that are sporting unhealthy junk foods under the guise of concern for consumer health.

Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies has taken extra heat in the press these days from a bold yellow banner appearing on that box that says “Now helps support your child’s immunity”. The box also brags a 25% daily value of antioxidants and nutrients. Hmm. Are consumers supposed to believe that this cereal has the same healthy antioxidants found in berries? Not stopping there, this child friendly box says that it is a ” Chocolatey sweetened rice cereal”. Chocolatey suggesting that there is no real chocolate among the ingredients just something “chocolatey”. 

At a time when the H1N1 virus is on everyone’s minds, this immune support claim appears unconscionable. Add to that, the alarmingly high amount of  sugar (which is said be harmful to immune systems) in this cereal (and many others), makes this claim absurd.  Apparently the San Francisco attorney general staff thought so to and wrote a letter to Kellogg’s demanding proof. As a result Kellogg’s has now said they will phase out those boxes making those ill founded immunity boosting claims.

What can we learn? As consumers we need to read and understand what is written on the side panel of food boxes. We need to stop buying fake foods loaded with refined sugar and chemicals that have paragraphs of ingredients on their boxes with names we can’t pronounce. We need to stop being victims of false advertising claims that are perpetrated by food companies who are trying to get you to buy their product. Their goal is your pocketbook, not your health.  In Food Politics by Marion Nestle she states ” Food companies will make and market any product that sells, regardless of its nutritional value or its effect on health”. 

To Your Vibrant Health, Your Holistic Health Counselor, Rochelle Blank Zimmer - Your Natural Choice

Newark Holistic Health Examiner

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