Just when I thought the Marketers of “empty calories” couldn’t be anymore misleading in their health claims Kellogg’s reaches a new low. By increasing the required application of sprayed on synthetic vitamins (10% to 25% of RDA) on their Rice Krispie cereals, Kellogg’s states there is legitimate justification to claim that the cereals will “Help Support Your Childs Immunity”. The shameless opportunism taking advantage of the consumer insecurities perpetuated by the H1N1 propaganda machine.
And scarily the FDA and FTC, the so-called protector of public interest, agree that this is a legitimate claim. Cocoa Krsipies is 40% sugar by weight! How can this support the immune system when sugar and other glycemic promoting ingredients such as High Fructose Corn Syrup (which was the target of the last BS claim by 7-up as “All Natural”) are known to reduce immunity effectiveness, sugar for example hinders the effective absorbtion of vitamin C on a cellular level. What is interesting is that Kellogg’s says that the Institute of Medicine substantiates the claim by acknowledging that these “increased ingredients” have been proven to support immune system functionality. Great! Let’s take these ingredients out of context and make a claim of their performance. Based on this logic Jack Daniel’s can make the claim of being an effective hydrating drink based on the high percentage of water in the ingredients.
Fortunately local governments like San Francisco are standing up for their constituents and challenging both Kellogg’s and the FDA on the claims.
This really puts the spot light on the FDA/FTC and whose interest they are really supporting. The history of government recommendations and guidance has been rife with special interest limitng the effectiveness or even the accuracy of what is promoted to the public. The first food pyramid set up by the USDA with the focus of promoting a healthy diet was completely altered by the Beef and Dairy lobbies and finally changed 25 years later.
Not that there is any further evidence needed but the Kellogg’s campaign reiterates the need for more responsible companies who won’t resort to misleading propositions but present goods in a manner that allows for conscious and thoughtful decisions, where the truth is not hidden from view. The alternative is the steady decline in health and a perpetual breach of trust creating a sick, apathetic and passive population.
I heard about this story while driving to work the other day. Something that’s not mentioned in the article above is a quote from Monsanto’s director of product development, in which he expresses concerns that the vegetables he’s able to buy in the store just can’t compete on taste when compared to those he can grow in his home garden. > more
by Joshua Lynn on April 13th, 2009
This article from Forbes just came across my desk.
It angers me – so I’m sharing it. Helen Coster’s supposition that “organic” is a choice that consumers should make based on personal health benefits really rubs me the wrong way. It’s just so “American” to eat with the attitude > more
by David Poole on March 25th, 2009
Demand nutritional value with your Refractometer
Clearly, all the Pure Branding team members do is read The New York Times coverage of the organic industry. This is the newspaper’s third article on the topic in the past week! That in itself is noteworthy. How fantastic that organic is getting such high profile attention.
In the latest piece, food columnist Mark Bittman debunks the notion that organic food is intrinsically healthy. He touches on the purist-pragmatist debate and the notion that the allure generated by the purists has compounded consumer misconceptions around organic as nourishing.
So what’s the solution? I think there’s great potential in objective measures of nutritional value, like use of the Brix value to measure the nutritional content of fruits espoused by the Real Food Campaign. I see a future of informed consumers combing farmers’ markets with their refractometers in hand. > more
Yesterday’s New York Times ran a thoughtful article entitled “Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?” making a whirlwind of connections, from the success of Expo West to a sneak peak of the documentary Food Inc., to the political shifts evidenced by Obama’s appointment of Tom Vislack to Secretary of Agriculture, to Alice Waters and Michael Pollan (even suggesting that Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” is on the night-stands of an amazing number of members of Congress), to thoughts from industry leaders like Gary Hirshberg.
I can feel the winds of change in the air, can you? A new consciousness is building that’s connecting the dots in ways that never seemed possible before. > more
The New York Times recently featured a write up and photo essay on our little rural town in Western Massachusetts.
Warning: The writer is a bit guilty of a few romantic notions and factual errors about our little town of 1,746, but captures some of its quirky and idealistic spirit. I’m told that since the article appeared there has been an influx of queries from New Yorkers to local real estate agencies. > more
by Joshua Lynn on March 20th, 2009
What a way to start my morning on the first day of spring! Sipping my coffee on the drive into the office, listening to NPR as usual, I heard a follow up to a little story I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while now: The White House announced groundbreaking for it’s South Lawn Organic Garden. > more
by Joshua Lynn on March 19th, 2009
My first post about greenwashing sparked an office-wide conversation about the effects it has on our clients: the Natural and Organic Products Industry. Frustrating as greenwashing may be, I believe there’s a hidden benefit for us here too. > more
by Joshua Lynn on March 19th, 2009
Natural Foods Merchandiser published this great article with 5 key takeaways from expo.
I would add one more: Cause Marketing. I’d like to attribute it to the down economy – consumers are pinching pennies but still want to do something that makes them feel good on a moral level. Two that stuck in my mind were Alacer’s Emergen-C Blue and Castor & Pollux’s Free Kibble program. > more
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it; however, those who learn from history can reap the benefits. Many of today’s household brands realized the greatest gains in market-share during economic downturns. GE, P&G, Kellogg and Chevrolet all established market leadership during the Great Depression. > more
