The War on Cheerios

[patric]

The FDA has warned the makers of Cheerios to stop advertising their product as the equivalent of a new, untested drug.

Cheerios 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 market Cheerios legally unless it applies for approval as a new drug or changes the way it labels the small, doughnut-shaped cereal, the FDA said.

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/s7188c.pdf

It is not known if police departments will be receiving grants from the federal government to combat this latest scourge, unless there is a public outcry or a rash of Cheerios lab explosions.

[sgrizzle]

FDA doesn't want people treading on their turf. If people ate well and exercised, imagine the millions pharmaceutical companies would lose.

[Conan71]

The FDA has warned the makers of Cheerios to stop advertising their product as the equivalent of a new, untested drug.

Cheerios 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 market Cheerios legally unless it applies for approval as a new drug or changes the way it labels the small, doughnut-shaped cereal, the FDA said.

http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/s7188c.pdf

It is not known if police departments will be receiving grants from the federal government to combat this latest scourge, unless there is a public outcry or a rash of Cheerios lab explosions.

They'll just sneak in counterfeit Cheerios from Canada or India.

[Gaspar]

Here's the deal on the Cheerios thing. 

General Mills advertises that eating Cheerios can lower your cholesterol.

That is false.

The study they site (a substitution study) showed that people who ate Cheerios every morning INSTEAD of a standard american breakfast had decreased cholesterol.

They then assert that eating Cheerios lowers cholesterol. . . rather than concluding correctly that NOT EATING BACON AND EGGS WITH 3 PANCAKES, SAUSAGE, 2 BISCUITS & GRAVY lowers your cholesterol.

This has been a peeve of physicians for over 10 years now because patients are falsely led to believe that adding a bowl or two of Cheerios to their otherwise horrible diet will lower their cholesterol. 

Cardiologists have petitioned the FDA for years to take action against General Mills and it has finally come to a head.  It is false advertising.  If they said in the ads that by "replacing an otherwise unhealthy breakfast with Cheerios YOU can realize a drop in your cholesterol" they would be correct, but no they claim a direct link that Cheerios reduces cholesterol.