Cheerios is a drug, the FDA says.

[Sub Atomic]

http://blogs.denverpost.com/dollarsandsense/2009/05/26/cheerios-is-a-drug-the-fda-says/


<b> Cheerios is a drug, the FDA says</b>

by David Migoya on May 26, 2009


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.”

..more at link..



:wtf:

[trotsky]

1. If you make a product, and make a health-related claim about that product,

should you be required to back it up? Yes, I agree this appears heavy-handed but what's the alternative? Just let product manufacturers make whatever claims they want about their item?

[Sub Atomic]

4. The third paragraph of this article clears that, I believe.

<b>
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.</b>

[trotsky]

5. Exactly.

But making a specific claim that Cheerios will lower cholesterol goes a step farther, and thus should be treated differently.

[damntexdem]

9. But that should be a FTC issue.

But this is likely not so much a move on Cheerios as a shot across the bow of the "health foods" industry.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. I believe you are correct.

[trotsky]

13. And why shouldn't it be?

I don't want ANY manufacturer making claims about their product that they can't substantiate.

Do you trust every company to tell the truth and never stretch it or just outright lie?

[Captain Hilts]

17. Agree. nt

[MrModerate]

Actually, that makes sense to me . . . not so much that Cheerios should be considered a drug . . .

But that they can't make unsubstantiated claims about its efficacy.

[loyalkydem]

2. WTF

So I'm a drug addict now (LOL)

[RoyGBiv]

3. No, that is not what the FDA says ...

The FDA says that if you're going to market your product as though it were a drug, you need to show that your "drug" has those benefits.

[damntexdem]

6. That makes no sense unless the oats are manipulated to be cholesterol lowering.

The whole issue with cigarettes as a drug reviewable by the FDA was that tobacco companies manipulated nicotine, and other chemicals, to induce their wanted effect -- greater addiction.

Cheerios would only be reviewed by the FDA as a food -- reviewed for safety, not effectiveness.

As for product claims of the effects of the food, that should be reviewable by the FTC.

[Sanity Claws]

7. I've never been able to mainline it

Maybe I should crush it up more.

[damntexdem]

10. It's the topography. A toroid.

There's just no alternative to snorting it. Or smoking it in a hookah.

;-)

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

8. Cheerios can indeed be marketed as a drug... does that mean they are gonna

up the price +200% ?

[fascisthunter]

11. Corporate America, Poisoning America for a Profit

also making destructive behavior an incentive...

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. I'm sure the FDA will tell us if Cheerios are in fact poison.

[elleng]

15. Bad HEADLINE!

those CLAIMS MEAN the little round “o’s” of oats are to be considered a drug.

LETS USE THE LANGUAGE PROPERLY!

[Captain Hilts]

16. Cheerios is making dubious health claims. nt

[sipping radicchio]

18. Know what? I think I'll just pass on the cereal and taken Vytorin...

'Cause I saw it in an ad and it made all these claims...:crazy:

(Oh. So they pulled it from the market?!)