NY Times Editorial - Beware Claims About Foods

Snake Oil for Breakfast
Published: June 11, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/opinion/12sat4.html?th&emc=th

More than a century after President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure
Food and Drug Act, deception is still a far too popular marketing tool
for food makers.

The Federal Trade Commission barred Kellogg’s last year from running ads
saying Mini-Wheats are “clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness
by 20 percent.” To claim “benefits to cognitive health, process or
function provided by any cereal or any morning food or snack food,” was
a no-no, unless the claims were true. But the F.T.C.’s order covered
only cognitive abilities. So just as it was signing its consent,
Kellogg’s was starting a new campaign in which “Snap, Crackle and Pop”
called out to parents from the Rice Krispies box promising to help
“support your child’s IMMUNITY.”

Last week, the F.T.C. said that it had closed that loophole, reaching an
agreement with Kellogg’s that would bar the company from making any
claims about the health benefits of their food unless they were backed
by scientific evidence and not misleading.

Businesses have been making dubious claims about their products at least
since the 17th century, when the British clergyman Anthony Daffy sold
Daffy’s Elixir as a cure for scurvy as well as agues, gout, rheumatism,
rickets, worms and other ailments. Hucksterism — no matter how
implausible the claim — lives on.

In 2004, the F.T.C. barred KFC from saying its fried chicken was
compatible with low-carbohydrate weight-loss programs — because such
diets specifically advise against breaded, fried foods. The Food and
Drug Administration sent letters to 17 food companies in March warning
them about misleading product labels. Dreyer’s claimed there is no
trans-fat in its ice cream but forgot to mention it has lots of
saturated fat. POM Wonderful claimed its pomegranate juice helps treat,
prevent or cure hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

This might be par for the course for an era of swift-boating political
ads and a torrent of television commercials plumping for myriad wonder
drugs (sudden death may result). It leaves the consumer in a quandary:
what part of the label can be believed?