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Popular Cereal Is a Drug, US Food Watchdog Says
WASHINGTON - Popular US breakfast cereal Cheerios is a drug, at least if the claims made on the label by its manufacturer General Mills are anything to go by, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said.
"Based on claims made on your product's label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug," the FDA said in a letter to General Mills which was posted on the federal agency's website Tuesday.
Boxes of Cheerios cereal are displayed on a shelf at a market in California. Popular US breakfast cereal Cheerios is a drug, at least if the claims made on the label by its manufacturer General Mills are anything to go by, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said. (AFP) Cheerios labels claim that eating the cereal can help lower bad cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease, by four percent in six weeks.
Citing a clinical study, the product labels also claim that eating two servings a day of Cheerios helps to reduce bad cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, the FDA letter says.
Those claims indicate that Cheerios -- said by General Mills to be the best-selling cereal in the United States -- is intended to be used to lower cholesterol and prevent, lessen or treat the disease hypercholesterolemia, and to treat and prevent coronary heart disease.
"Because of these intended uses, the product is a drug," the FDA concluded in its letter.
Not only that, but Cheerios is a new drug because it has not been "recognized as safe and effective for use in preventing or treating hypercholesterolemia or coronary heart disease," the FDA said.
That means General Mills may not legally market Cheerios unless it applies for approval as a new drug or changes the way it labels the small, doughnut-shaped cereal, the FDA said.
General Mills defended the claims on Cheerios packaging, saying in a statement that Cheerios' soluble fiber heart health claim has been FDA-approved for 12 years, and that its "lower your cholesterol four percent in six weeks" message has been featured on the box for more than two years.
The FDA's quibble is not about whether Cheerios cereal is good for you but over "how the Cheerios cholesterol-lowering information is presented on the Cheerios package and website," said General Mills.
"We look forward to discussing this with FDA and to reaching a resolution."
Meanwhile, the FDA warned in its letter that if General Mills fails to "correct the violations" on its labels, boxes of Cheerios could disappear from supermarket and wholesaler shelves around the United States and the company could face legal action.
According to General Mills, one in eight boxes of cereal sold in the United States is a box of Cheerios. The cereal debuted on the US market in 1941.
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80 Comments so far
Show AllWe watch and listen to BIG PHARMA push drugs on TV 24/7 with side effects that would choke a horse, but, basically, Cheerios says that's it's good for you on it's label and the FDA (bought and paid for by BIG PHARMA) calls it a drug. Someone at Cheerios forgot to send the check, eh?
The only technical justification for calling Cheerios a drug is the refined sugar that it contains is a drug. Perhaps the manufacturer should discontinue sugaring the mix and tell the FDA to take a hike.
I think their "justification" is in the way it's marketed. It's BS, but if Cheerios says it cures something, that makes it a drug. I agree, refined sugar is poison. They could easily replace it with raw sugar or real honey, but then they would piss off the sugar lobby, eh?
I watched and listened to BIG PHARMA push drugs on TV 24/7 and that's why I unpluged the corporate propaganda box years ago.
Why do our elected officials 'protect' us from rolled oats but coverup the killing of entire towns like Libby Montana (or Bhopal)?
They don't. The DOJ was the prosecutor, not defendant, in the Libby case.
And they aren't against the cereal, just the misleading labeling.
Sioux Rose
ANGRY: I nominate you for the "Howard Biel Award," right-on satirical analysis!
or perhaps they did finally send the check, and are getting an advertising boost.
Think inside the box, inside the pill, the drug...
Be safely tucked into the corporate womb.
'Hush little baby don't you cry...'
Mama's here now.
Uh huh, and they STILL won't regulate tobacco.
Because the FDA has nothing more significant to focus on...
Incredible that Cheerios is under the microscope but Tylenol and Claritin are sold over the counter with the plethora of side effects. It’s no wonder that Pfizer and other such pharmaceutical giants are next in line to control the U.S, move over banking industry, auto industry, credit card industry and oil industry make way for the super giant of drugs.
Anyone who thinks the FDA can be reformed is probably suffering from Mad Cow disease.
Unless you've taken some of their favorite brain tweeking antidepressants - then you are just Mad as a Hatter.
Yep, and we need to abolish the EPA too!
Perhaps we can classify all foods with high nutritional value as "performance enhancing" drugs and treat them like steroids.
don't give them any ideas.
If Cheerios is now a drug, does that mean that people can go to jail for possession?
Nah, Cheerios is just another "gateway drug" - like white sugar and Television.
That's why they put those little trays on high-chairs so kids can start early.
Any guesses on how long before we'll see a study of the "safety and effectiveness" of high-fructose corn syrup??
OMG! I've been on drugs ALL MY LIFE!! And it was my own mother who pushed me through that gateway onto the slippery slope! Oh, I've done it all: rice, wheat, beans... For a while, I even cooked my own granola. But I always--ALWAYS!--come back to Cheerios. In fact, I think it's time for another spoonful, spoonful, spoonful...
The FDA needs to be done away with...who do they work for? Not for me, that is for sure...all of this bueracracy is out of hand...the government needs to be greatly reduced...we need to stand up and fire the jackals. I want to be a freeman...not a slave.
Repent.Unite.Resist.
Yup, let the forces of free enterprise decide what is good for us!
This is a logical extension of our drug-based approach to health. If it helps you, then it MUST BE a drug.
Joe
I am stunned that so many people are siding with a junk-cereal manufacturer!
All the FDA is stating is that if General Mills is going to make the open claim that the cereal it manufactures will specifically lower you chloesterol 4 percent in 6 weeks, then it is in fact a "drug" for the treatment of a condition Therefore, they need to provide the evidence of it's safety and efficacy. Or, more easily, they simply need to change their labeling to something less misleading.
Everyone recognizes that oat bran helps reduce chlosterol, but there are better sources than processed junk cereal made by a big corporation.
As far as drug regulation, while I don't think anything harmless should be banned, it does need to be labeled that there is no evidence of benefit for a lot or "alternative" drugs and practices. There are a lot of quacks and charlatians out there. I am unfortunately married to a vitamin ahd "alternative" medecine addict. Between the expensive vitimins, herbal drugs, herbal teas, the chirporacters, chinese herbalists, accupuncturists, 100% organic raw-food diet, 100% pure reverse-osmosis water, vast amounts of kombucha tea... our home finances are in shambles, and her vague, non-specific health complaints - aches, pains, digestive problems (which are probably largely a somataform disorder which she is in denial of) get no better.
Of all the name brand cereals out there, Cheerios has fewer junk ingredients than most. AND, the store brands have even less. Take a look at the side effects of most cholesterol lowering drugs. I'll take Cheerios or Newman's "Sweet Enough" honey oats cereal anytime. Want to load your body with manufactured chemicals...enjoy yourself.
Incidentally, sounds like your mate is a bit overboard. I'm a vegetarian, but not a fanatic about much, except the poisons of hydrogenated oil and HFCS. Organic?.....who the hell knows any longer....
Yes, and it is fine for the package to state that it contains oats which are part of a healthy diet to lower chlosterol, but they are mking a specific claim.
Me, I havent had any kind of box cereal in my home for years. Oatmeal porrige is tastier, healthier and cheaper.
But if the oats lower Cholesterol , then it a drug and the FDA needs to regulate it.
Whatever is in Cheerios, this is the Basis of the claims by the FDA.
No, read the article again. It is the label that is the issue.
I was trinking along the same lines....
First, in an overly litigeous society, if someone binged on Cheerios, or was even recommended to by a doctor, then when something goes wrong, all sorts of people can get sued.
Second, I always cynically get the feeling that depts like the FDA like this kind of control. They regulate drugs, whatever that means. And this is a big loophole, and must have motivated at least a few key people in the dept.
Third, and most importantly, what would this precedent do for the (non-BigPharma) homeopathic treatments? Of course, there is a lot of crap out there that people can consume... but there are also natural cures for all sorts of things, do we want them regulated in the same way? do we want the FDA to reclassify zinc, make it as expensive as arthritis medicine, and only sold by the drug companies? Do we want hospitals to push drugs over healthy food? If a pickle will cure heartburn better then zantac, but the hospital is under contract with merk, how would anyone find out that they can spend $3 on a jar of pickles rather than $12 on a bottle of pills...
sabocat, perhaps your wife feels truly unwell and is trying to find answers from those who would do her much less harm (if any at all) than would conventional medicine with their drug poisons. the fact that your finances are in shambles indicates that perhaps you should take over the bill-paying or that she might be buying things to fill an empty void within; clearly she lacks your support from the tone of your post. don't be so quick to write her off as a nutjob with your psycho-babble.
there are quacks and charlatans in every field. and there are excellent practitioners in every field as well. i suppose you think only allopathic physicians should be given credence.
re: labeling. the fda already mandates what you suggest. go take a look at one of your wife's herbal medicines (not "drugs," more like food in most cases) to prove so.
traditional medicine has been with us for a lot longer than conventional doctors, the AMA, the FDA, the EPA, and all their shady politicization of our health freedoms. check out the german monographs to see how many studies have been done on herbs and their healing qualities. and we think we're the superpower. bs, for sure.
One of my daughters works for GM in Minneapolis as do her two sisters' husbands. GM is an excellent and progressive company. They offer advancement opportunities, good wages and benefits, on-site daycare and preschool, sponsor 5k runs, community activities, etc. The list is too long to mention. All three of them love working there.
Now you don't suppose someone has a childish grudge against a corporation like this, do you? Or maybe I'm just a paranoid lefty.
Sounds like leftovers from the Am-Bushed Administration. The claim that Cheerios is a drug is of couse absurd. What ingredients are in a Cherrio? A little wheat, some sugar, and water? How can you make a drug out of that? What makes a drug a drug is not what it does but what it is made of, primarily unnatural substances. If Cheerios is a drug, then so is water. They're up to something very, very devious.
Does this mean Cheerios will be forced to place 2-page ads in magazines and newspapers, warning the public of possible side effects?
According to nutritionists, the following foods help lower cholesterol: cereals with oat or flaxseed; wholegrain cereals; fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, citrus fruits and apples; pecans, walnuts, and olives; beans, peas, and lentils; foods made from soy; and olive oil. I'm sure there are others, but when are we going to see commercials that discuss high cholesterol, then say, "Ask your doctor about..." and name the foods that can lower your cholesterol naturally? Is the FDA going to target these foods, too, calling them 'drugs'?
Oatbran cereal is particularly effective; FDA, leave my natural, good tasting food alone. I don't want you to screw those up too!
Hell, I eat 4 of those pretty much daily. Know any other people over 400 lbs. with a cholesterol level of 170?
smipypr
I love the diet pill fine print - not evaluated by the FDA. One way to start the switch from label watchdog to standards enforcement would be to giver the FDA a budget that would enable the agency to actually run the tests needed to evaluate the label claims. Public perception also needs a tune-up - and that may be impossible, given the fact that basic science education is so screwed up. People will buy anything that says Fast, Now, Sexy, New (and or) Improved, Clinical....and never read the fine print. Big Agriculture has already perverted the meaning of organic. The FDA requires rBST-free cheese to have a label indicating "there is no difference" between juiced-up cheese or dairy products, and the non-juiced products. Yikes!
Texas, and possibly other states, have laws on the books forbidding "food disparagement". Even Saint Oprah got sued for having a show about hamburgers.
"The FDA requires rBST-free cheese to have a label indicating "there is no difference" between juiced-up cheese or dairy products, and the non-juiced products."
Yikes!
Their research show that. Can you show the opposite is true?
If you think we would be better off without an FDA, then I assume you believe that we will also be better off abolishing the EPA and State environmental agencies too, right?
A re-reading of Sinclair's "The Jungle" may be on order.
Isn't the requirement "there is no noticeable difference?"
Screw the FDA; Cheerios is a healthy food that taste good and has been around almost as long as the FDA. The basic ingredients have been around since the dawn of time; can't have the drug reps competing with that! Cheerios is far superior to using Zocor, Lipitor, etc to help with lowering cholesterol, which is why I eat the cereal. The FDA is overstepping it boundries and not helping the general public at all. Leave my Cheerios alone!
Their problem isn't the product, it is the sensationalist labeling. That's all.
When will the FDA do the necessary studies on marihuana to, "recognize as safe and effective for use in..."??
Over the last several decades, there have been only two dry cereals that are healthy to eat: grape nut flakes, and post shredded wheat. These are the only dry cereals that don't contain any sugar and that are not highly processed. Go ahead and cherish your Cheerios, but don't call it healthy.
My doctor tells me I have borderline cholesterol levels with very low HDL (the good cholesterol).
I tell him I don't want to take drugs for the rest of my life.
He tells me to loose weight, do aerobic exercise and drink 4 ounces of red wine every day.
Is wine a drug?
The FDA needs to work for the people not corporations.
And eat scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast.
OK, I've long thought that Lucky Charms are a gateway drug.
Not so much the toasty little "o"s of oats.
However, I absolutely loathe and detest Cheerios teevee ads, which pop up about every ten minutes; they have about nineteen different varieties, each with its own annoying commercial.
They're pitched to the target demographic who apparently identifes with Bob 'n Betty Schlub, a warm 'n wonderful bantering Amerikan couple just like you and me-- including their obsession with health and nutrition.
When I see Mr. Schlub sitting on the porch saying crap like, "My doctor wants me to control my cholesterol-- but I wasn't ready to give up good taste!" I grab the remote control lest my gagging and retching reach a point of no return.
Talk about toxic! There's such a thing as MENTAL health too, after all.
And don't get me started on that creepy Nasonex "bee"!
· Yr Obd't Servant
can it cure porcluenza?
oh, vdb, lmao!!! good one, thanks for that!
I didn't read all the comments, but I'm thinking that maybe this 'healthy diet' stuff - including eating high-fibre diets - is cutting into Big PHarma's profits, and that they're the ones who complained to the FDA...
armybrat - I think you've hit the nail on the head.