(NaturalNews) The big food companies have dreamed up yet another clever con to sell processed junk foods to parents and children: A "Smart Choices" label that implies the food product is a smart choice for health and nutrition. The problem is that the standards for qualifying for this designation were set by the food companies themselves, and processed junk foods like Froot Loops (a sugary breakfast cereal) qualify.
Froot Loops is 41 percent processed white sugar. It also contains processed flour and
partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil. But that's not all you'll find in the box: Froot Loops is also made with synthetic coloring
chemicals, including Red #40, Blue #2, Yellow #6 and Blue #1. The No. 1 ingredient of Froot Loops is
sugar, and each serving contains 12 grams of sugar.
So how, exactly, did Froot Loops qualify for the "Smart Choices" label?
I'll tell you how: Because
the Smart Choices label is a marketing fraud. It's a manipulative, dishonest
food package labeling system that is intentionally designed by the
processed food companies to mislead and misinform
consumers into buying processed food
products, in my view.
You'd have to be deeply misinformed about nutritional basics to think that a processed
breakfast cereal made of 41% sugar, partially-hydrogenated
oils and artificial coloring chemicals is a "smart choice" for any
child. A more appropriate label might be
"Diabetes Choices" or
"Obesity Choices", but certainly not "Smart Choices."
In my opinion, this
marketing fraud is little more than a marketing gimmick. It makes you wonder who, exactly, came up with it.
The president of the Smart Choices board is Eileen T. Kennedy, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. (
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/1174562918741/Nutrition-Page-nl2w_1177941613339.html)
Eileen Kennedy and other Tufts University faculty members have established ties with the Kellogg's company, having participated in a "Children's Health" forum that was co-sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
That
event, held in June of this year, was entitled:
'Children's Health: The Future of Food & Nutrition Policy'. It claimed to offer in-depth discussions on topics like "
childhood obesity, nutrition standards, global child
nutrition and school food." (
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS211273+27-May-2009+PRN20090527)
(Did their discussions ever mention that perhaps children shouldn't eat
breakfast cereals made with 41% processed sugar?)
In promoting the event, Eileen Kennedy was quoted in a joint press release, admitting how closely her university works with
food companies:
"Working with our colleagues across academia, the food and nutrition industry, government agencies and nonprofit organizations, we will influence and change the
nutritional landscape for our children."She certainly accomplished that. Now, products made with 41% refined
white sugar are fraudulently marketed as "Smart Choices."
Guess who else was invited to speak at the event? Dr. Cathy Woteki from Mars, Inc., makers of candy bars and other sugar
processed foods that are aggressively marketed to children.
Tufts University: Sugar for kids?
It all makes you wonder: With all these corporate
junk food giants being so heavily involved in this event presented by Tufts University, what exactly does this university really stand for in regards to
healthy food for children? Does Tufts University itself stand behind the promotion of sugary
junk foods for children? Does it endorse products like Froot Loops being labeled as "Smart Choices" for kids?
Here are the ingredients of Froot Loops:
SUGAR; WHOLE GRAIN CORN FLOUR; WHEAT FLOUR; WHOLE GRAIN OAT FLOUR; OAT FIBER; SOLUBLE CORN FIBER; PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (ONE OR MORE OF: COCONUT, SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OILS)†; SALT; SODIUM ASCORBATE AND ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C); NIACINAMIDE; REDUCED IRON; NATURAL ORANGE, LEMON, CHERRY, RASPBERRY, BLUEBERRY, LIME AND OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS; RED #40; BLUE #2; TURMERIC COLOR; YELLOW #6; ZINC OXIDE; ANNATTO COLOR; BLUE #1; PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6); RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2); THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1); VITAMIN A PALMITATE; BHT (PRESERVATIVE); FOLIC ACID; VITAMIN D; VITAMIN B12.
Is
Eileen T. Kennedy, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, really going to tell us -- with a straight face -- that
this cereal is good for kids?Really?
Aiming low
She might answer, of course, that "it meets U.S. government
nutritional guidelines." Those are the same guidelines that have already made the United States of
America a nation grappling with a pandemic of
obese children and adults.
Clearly, U.S. government nutritional guidelines are a
public health disaster. If we hope to
improve the
health of our children, it only stands to reason that we must
improve the nutritional guidelines being followed to feed our kids. And you can't improve nutritional guidelines if you're in bed with the very same corporate food giants who are making and peddling their sugary, chemically-enriched
breakfast cereals that promote
diabetes and obesity in the first place.
You also can't improve kids' health if you're nutritionally ill-informed and yet you've somehow found your way into a position of influence over nutritional policy... as seems to be the case with Dr. Eileen Kennedy. Here's her gosh-darned explanation of why Froot Loops deserves the "Smart Choices" label, in her own words: "You're rushing around, you're trying to think about healthy
eating for your kids and you have a choice between a doughnut and a cereal. So Froot Loops is a better choice."
Better than a donut?
Huh? Is she serious? Froot Loops gets a Smart Choices label because
it's better than a donut? Is this the limit of the nutritional awareness of
the dean of a nationally-recognized school that's part of the Tufts University system?
This all really reminds me of the movie
Idiocracy, where the whole nation is run by complete idiots and
water fountains have been replaced with sugary sports drinks because everybody knows that "water is only for toilets."
In terms of really idiotic thinking, check out this quote published in the
New York Times: "Dr. Clark, who is a member of the Smart Choices board, said that the program's standard for sugar in
cereals was consistent with federal dietary guidelines that say that 'small amounts of sugar' added to nutrient-dense
foods like breakfast cereals can make them taste better. That, in theory, will encourage people to eat more of them, which would increase the nutrients in their
diet."
Are they serious? Break down this logic for a moment: Sugar is GOOD because it encourages children to eat MORE processed breakfast cereals!
How on earth could this be a legitimate answer in a nation where
kids are eating too much sugar and too much processed food in the first place?
The utter abandonment of basic common sense by the people in this program is truly awe-inspiring. It really makes me wonder how we can ever turn around the health problems of this nation when we have such nutritionally illiterate people being quoted in the
New York Times as nutritional experts. (Or perhaps the NY Times was just trying to point out how nutritionally ignorant these people are, and on that point it succeeded wildly...)
Someone please educate Dr. Kennedy about nutrition
Tufts University is an outstanding academic institution. It's done a lot of good work and produced many important studies on nutrition and health. But this pro-sugary-cereals stance by its nutrition school dean is, well, just flat out embarrassing. It makes Tufts University look like the best little corporate nutrition whorehouse in Boston. They might as well just remove the word "
science" from the name of the school:
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.That name should probably be replaced with this one, which is more accurate:
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Corporate Ass Kissers. I'm pretty sure the Friedmans wouldn't appreciate that name, but neither would they likely appreciate a deeply misinformed dean potentially compromising the reputation of their school by seemingly selling out to the very
companies whose products undeniably contribute to our kids becoming obese and
diabetic in the first place.
Don't let 'em get away with this sell out. Contact the School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and tell 'em what you think about their dean endorsing Froot Loops for children (among other processed junk foods) under the "Smart Choices" label. This is inexcusable! Their contact page is right here:
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/1174562918741/Nutrition-Page-nl2w_1177953853481.htmlNot all top university nutritionists are hopelessly ignorant when it comes to nutrition, by the way. The chair of the nutrition department at the
Harvard School of Public Health, Walter Willett, told the New York Times that many products carrying the "Smart Choices" label "are horrible
choices." In fact, quite a number of influential nutrition leaders have spoken out publicly against Dr. Kennedy.
Smart Choices companies aren't so smart choices
In case you're curious, here's the list of the companies participating in this "Smart Choices" label program:
Kellogg's
Kraft Foods
ConAgra Foods
Unilever
General Mills
PepsiCo
Tyson Foods
... it reads like a who's who of processed food and junk food giants. In terms of making truly smart choices at the grocery store, by the way,
the smartest choice would be to avoid any product made by any of these companies, in my view.
What integrity really means
Michael Jacobson, the public health watchdog from CSPI, participated as a panel member in the early days of the Smart Choices program, but he soon quit, explaining "It was paid for by
industry and when industry put down its foot and said this is what we're doing, that was it, end of story." In other words, Jacobson rightly refused to sell out his conscience to a group of corporate junk food promoters. That's a rare display of genuine integrity in our world.
I applaud Jacobson for quitting the Smart Choices program, which is obviously just a fraudulent marketing gimmick devised by these companies to intentionally mislead consumers. It's too bad the dean of Tufts University's nutrition school couldn't find the backbone to adhere to similar principles. In a nation suffering from runaway
health care costs, widespread nutritional deficiencies and an epidemic of
childhood obesity, it's truly disheartening to see an influential nutrition leader from one of the nation's top
universities blatantly promoting processed junk foods for children.
I'm appalled, saddened and somewhat surprised to see this in 2009. While the nutritional advice of Eileen T. Kennedy might have passed muster in the 1970's era of bleached white Wonder Bread and chemically-enhanced TV dinners, today we know a lot more about the links between the dietary intake of sugars and childhood
obesity, diabetes, heart disease and behavioral disorders. We know that feeding a nation of children sugared-up breakfast cereals and soft drinks is a sure recipe for raising a generation of obese, diabetic children and teens.
As the dean of the school of nutrition at Tufts University, how is it possible that Mrs. Kennedy could have missed this? Has she been in an aspartame-induced coma since 1975? ... and now she suddenly awakens from her decades-long slumber to slap on a pair of polyester pants and champion Froot Loops for children as a prominent dean at Tufts University?
Is this some bizarre rejected screenplay from a "B" movie script? Will her head now spin around as she spouts devilish verse from a demonic spirit that has occupied her
body and filled her head with thoughts of sugary cereals?
The whole thing just defies reason. It's difficult to believe this is happening today, in America, in a top-rated university. So read the sources below. Check it out for yourself as you confirm the truth of what I'm reporting here through articles in the NY Times, CBS News and Reuters. See for yourself just how corrupt and / or ignorant the top nutrition leaders in our nation's universities can be on this crucial issue of the diet of children. And when you see this clearly, you'll finally understand why America has more fat, diabetic children than any other nation in the world.
Our adults have sold out our children. It's that simple. In my opinion, corporate money has bought off key influencers who set public nutrition policy, and they have conspired to feed our kids more sugar, more processed foods, more junk and more lies about nutrition even while their selfish actions may very well bankrupt our entire nation through runaway
health care costs.
One final truth comes out in all this: The USA's national nutrition policies precisely mirror its national food supply -- they're both processed, bleached, adulterated and wholly devoid of any useful substance.
Sources for this story include:Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS211273+27-May-2009+PRN20090527The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html?pagewanted=1&emLA Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/smart-choices-sugar...CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/06/eveningnews/main5291352.shtmlFroot Loops ingredients:
http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=566Tufts University School of Nutrition
Science and Policy:
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams launched NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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