Doctors Smack Down "Smart Choices" Campaign Labeling Fruit Loops As "Healthy"
Last week we pointed you toward the New York Times' report on the dubious Smart Choices campaign, an industry-backed, pseudo-science marketing effort to convince you Froot Loops and other sugary cereals really are part of a complete, healthy breakfast. The Sustainable Food blog is not amused at the existence of such a program, and put together a list of 10 reasons Smart Choices is bogus.
The post is pretty much a cavalcade of scientists talking smack about the program:
-Involving the food industry in the program is "a classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. The Chicago Tribune reports that Katz led the development of the NuVal system, one of the few impartial food-labeling programs.
-Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health, explained that including sugary and processed foods in the program make for "horrible choices," further explaining to the New York Times that "it's a blatant failure of this system and it makes it, I'm afraid, not credible."
Don't you just love it when scientists get snippy? If you want to join in the fray, you can sign this petition attacking the program.
The depressing reveal is, once and for all, Froot Loops aren't health food. Oh well.
Ten Reasons Why the Smart Choices Food Labeling Scheme is Outrageous [Sustainable Food] (Thanks, Mike!) (Photo: brockzilla)
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Comments:
@Oranges w/ Cheese is surfin the info superhighway: I think part of it is marketing by the cereal companies and getting labeled part of a balanced breakfast.
But of course you could also be eating way worse stuff. People feel great when they buy that blueberry muffin but forget that it has more calories, grams of fat, sugar, than those bowls of froot loops that they up their noses to.
I think for kids, even sugary cereals are borderline-ok as they at least are fortified with vitamins. I prefer tons of eggs/egg whites each breakfast because the protein fills me up forever but of course I'm also 25 and not still growing at 6.
@mazzic1083: I usually have a small amount of eggs and maybe one small piece of sausage for breakfast. I'm going to stop that, though, and eat a piece of toast instead. I don't think I actually get that hungry in the mornings, I think I'm just used to eating breakfast at that time because I get my coffee.
Next up, a giant label on the box that says "EVEN HEALTHIER!*"
*than 20 strips of bacon for breakfast.
I totally agree. As someone who watches sugar and glycemic index(not a diabetic but it runs in the family), I cringe looking at the "balanced breakfast". Nothing but sugary shit. Do you know how many grams of sugar are in a glass of milk? Let alone the cereal and bread and ORANGE JUICE? No wonder so many kids are diabetics now.
Most eople don't even know that they don't know shit about nutrition. They trust that stupid gubmint food pyramid. And the processed food industry.
Grrrrrrr. I'm signing that petition.
Fruit Loops is a part of my healthy lifestyle. Other parts include prodigious amounts of scotch, Chipotle burritos, ice cream, and deep fried butter.
Screw Fruit Loops! I'm gonna go have a bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs!
mmmmmmmmmm...cereal that isn't trying to hide the fact that it's candy...*droooool*
@Al Swearengen: You obviously haven't tried Mexican Deep Fried Buttered Ice Cream.
I wonder if you could use the froot loops as sprinkles...
Yeah, I remember the early "balanced breakfast" commercials in the mid '60s... "Eat a balanced breakfast of milk, toast, juice, and MUNCHY CRUNCHY CHOCOLATY COCOA PUFFS!"
Even as a little kid back then, I figured out that subtracting the Cocoa Puffs would still leave a "balanced breakfast", and that General Mills and Kellogg's were busy shoveling a big load of horsesh*t on kids.
Now at 51, my balanced breakfast consists of coffee, aspirin, two slices of whole-grain toast with peanut butter, and a 4k run.
@pollyannacowgirl: *I* know about nutrition. I eat two giant bowls of sugar-O's with whole milk for breakfast. Then I eat a half a box of Double Stuff Oreos for dinner*, followed by a box of Cheezits for a midnight snack. Bacon for a snack.
*Unless my wife is home
Sugar, Fat, and Salt... the three wonderful food groups.
@pollyannacowgirl: There's nothing wrong with the pyramid (old and new). What's wrong is that people don't follow it, ignore the bad content of their diet so long as it includes something good (like froot loops, at least their fortified, right?!), and have no idea what real serving sizes are (since processed food does not fill one up as quickly).
@Oranges w/ Cheese is surfin the info superhighway: I think you are supposed to sing the "4-4-3 and 2" song while eating this balanced breakfast. +1 for anybody who can find video of this nutrition ed throwback.
@pecan 3.14159265: i can't eat savory in the morning. for whatever weird reason, sausage and eggs get me nauseous in the morning. i need either cereal or oatmeal. i can eat eggs for breakfast IF i'm doing a huge gigantic sunday morning breakfast, with pancakes and the like.
@cabjf: mom serves us dinner on the salad plate, and not the dinner plate. allows for more accurate portions.
@sponica (woke up on wrong side of bed): I can eat oatmeal, but I hate the instant kind, and I can't eat oatmeal without sugar or some kind of flavoring. I used to eat oatmeal with craisins, but I was adding so many raisins to make it palatable that I eventually stopped because it wasn't nearly as healthy anymore. I would eat cereal for breakfast in the morning, but I'm not sure how I can manage that at work. I could get up half an hour earlier, but I don't see that happening :)
If I could make pancakes in my cubicle, I'd start charging money to serve breakfast in the morning.
Am I the only one who thinks that drinking milk and juice during breakfast is disgusting? Stick to one kind of drink, people!
I saw a commercial last night in which the newly-added fiber content of Fruit Loops was touted. Now your kids can be diabetic AND regular.
@pecan 3.14159265: i was the expert in the 5 minute cram your mouth with cereal eat while standing up before you race out the door. honed the skills in high school. the skills went the way of the dinosaur in college and in grad school.
What's even more absurd are the new commercials for some of these cereals that claim they'll supercharge your immune system to make you immune to swine flu. Or something to that effect.
@pecan 3.14159265: Your comment reminded me of an episode of Earthworm Jim, where Jim met his opposite self and his opposite self made a comment about liking the taste you get in your mouth when you drink orange juice after brushing your teeth.
On your point, yeah. I can't see why you'd want both when you could have milk and eat some fruit. Maybe the juice is there as part of some conspiracy with the state of Florida...
Really, I'm on the verge of despair here...
When the corporations police themselves, we get this "Smart Choices" bullcrap.
When the government polices the corporations, we get the CPSIA, and the lobbyists get the government to exempt their people (*cough*, Mattel) and screw the rest of us. [consumerist.com]
Corporate policing doesn't work.
Government policing doesn't work.
People don't seem to give a damn to police the companies using markets.
What the hell are we to do about this?
This is one area that everyone needs to become their own doctor/nutritionist. I have been running for 27 years, completing many marathons and logging thousands of miles. I have tried the whole wheat, low-carb, low-fat, high-protein, blah, blah, blah diets.
On a whim, one year I decided to focus on what foods improved my running times, kept me lean, and generally kept me feeling good. I am almost embarrassed to admit it was a diet that was 75% carbs, 15% protein, and 10% fat. Of those 75% carbs, I will confess that most of them were not fruits and veggies, but Cap'n Crunch, air-popped popcorn laden with corn syrup, and junk like Pop-Tarts. The hardest part was keeping the fats to 10%, but I was running my fastest times of my life.
Unfortunately, the social life goes to hell when you go out to eat with friends. However, if someone puts their body into workout mode, the box-o'-Sugar Bombs may just be the ticket. Like everything else, be your own boss and stop listening to the 'experts'.
@Oranges w/ Cheese is surfin the info superhighway: OJ isn't exactly low-cal, but you'd need to drink north of a pint of the stuff to get 300 calories. That is a bit bigger than what most people consume.
Processed food industry: "What the f*** do you people want from us? Its got f***in' fruit in the f***in' name? Isn't that good enough for you???"
Doctors: "When have Fruit Loops ever had fruit in them?"
Processed food industry: "Well, you see...HOLY MOTHER OF GOD LOOK BEHIND YOU, DOCTORS! *runs away*"
Come on, Doctors. These are the same people who convinced the Government that using Shrek for a healthy kids campaign around the same time he was whoring himself out for Hostess was a good idea. Plus, half an hour of activity a day? Come on! I've seen the kids of today and the amount of physical activity they'd need to burn off all the excess calories they consume thanks in part to processed foods (not to mention the stockpiles they've built up thanks to those calories) would leave them little time for anything else.
Oh, I guess I could toss in a "lol the lardass fruit of your loins is kidnapping proof." Its for the fans, ya know.
And you know what I got for Christmas? A pack of cigarettes. My dad grabbed me and said, " Smoke 'em up Tony, they're grrrreat!".....bastard.
-Frosted Flake's Tony the Tiger, Family Guy
@Japheaux: Unfortunately only 1/10% of people eating these types of foods is actually training for a marathon.
@Keavy_Rain: I don't even like fruit and milk together, unless in the form of a delicious orange creamsicle. I've never been able to eat fruit and drink milk for breakfast.
@pecan 3.14159265: I just eat my cereal dry with a cup of coffee. Cracklin' Oat Bran looks like cat food, but I assure you it is the most delicious cereal ever. Also you can eat a handful and not be hungry for several hours, it's so chock full of fiber.
".....and that's why little chocolate donuts have been on my training table since I was a kid."
R.I.P. Belushi.
@Oranges w/ Cheese is surfin the info superhighway: I used to work for an ad agency that produced cereal commercials, and that image of milk, cereal, juice, toast and fruit is called the "Legal Breakfast." Every kid cereal commercial has to have a shot of the Legal Breakfast with the "Part of a complete breakfast" voiceover. I guess it's to try and convince kids to not just stuff cereal in their mouths.
It's probably about as effective as the Surgeon General's warning on cigarette packs.
Regarding Froot Loops, the cereal contains trans fat. I do love how the FDA allows food labels to indicate a food is trans fat free if it contains .49g or less "per serving." It is reassuring to know that young kids are consuming this stuff and think nothing of it; and most parents probably have no idea. But Froot Loops has fiber....I can't help but chuckle from the ridiculousness.
@Oranges w/ Cheese is surfin the info superhighway: I think part of the problem is that it's only a "balanced" breakfast if you're their target market ie, active kids who are calorie burning machines with all the running and physical activity that they're (supposedly) getting in school.
Doesn't really help that people probably pour themselves 2 or 3 times the "suggested" serving size just to fill the cereal bowl.
@redskull: In order to say that line, they have to show the other products too. I could make Cotton Candy and a bowl full of sugar part of a balanced breakfast too.
Is that giant bag of froot loops $4.305 or $43.05?
@pecan 3.14159265: I put about a tablespoon of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon in my oatmeal, sometimes less, and it works wonders. Sometimes I change it up by adding fresh fruit like blueberries, cut strawberries, or even cut peaches. It makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way.
@pecan 3.14159265: Have you tried honey in your oatmeal? For me it takes less than the serving size listed (1 TBSP) to sweeten it.
@sponica (woke up on wrong side of bed): Yeah, when we were kids we got dinner on the salad plates too. Partly for portion control...and partly because kids doing dishwasher duty means many plates going to the Great Dish Cabinet in the Sky and Mom having to make do with what she had.
@Japheaux: I keep track of my diet online and I lean heavily toward carbs too. 60-70% carbs with the rest being pretty evenly divided between protein and fat. I eat a LOT of fruits and vegetables and almost no processed foods, though.
If they can do this, then the Tobacco Institute should be brought back as well. I want smoking to be healthy again.
@nnj: I know, that "trans fat free" thing when there actually IS trans fat in the food drives me nuts. The FDA is so broken it's insane.
@SybilDisobedience: we're in our 20s....not sure what that says about us or mom that she feeds us on the salad plates. much like growing up, we can either eat what she made for dinner, or make ourselves something completely different. it's just easier to eat what she makes for dinner.
@nnj: I think it's Coke Zero (Coke Tasteless), that totes 0g of calories, but in Europe it has one. It's a sick fucking joke that the .5 or .7g it actually has can be considered 0 here in the States. The system is broke and needs to be fixed.
@theblackdog_VerifiesHisEmail: Hmmm...I have not tried honey. I may have to.
@SybilDisobedience: I love fruit, but I can't nearly keep enough blueberries in my oatmeal to justify the cost of the blueberries. It's getting pricey!
@morlo: I eat toasted pop tarts with peanut butter (MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM) that I use to train for marathon TV watching.
Personally, I never understood the model "this balanced breakfast." Sugary cereal with milk, a big glass of OJ, PLUS TOAST, Plus some other bready objects, plus some weird fruit.
I dunno about you, but after eating all that I'd fall asleep! Cereal in and of itself is about 200 calories (in the bowls I use, and the huge bowls in the commercials). Plus about 100 calories of milk at least. The OJ is another 300 cals depending on how much you drink. Forget about the toast and bready things, that puts you way over!