A new food-labeling campaign called Smart Choices, backed by most of the nation’s largest food manufacturers, is “designed to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices.”
The green checkmark label that is starting to show up on store shelves will appear on hundreds of packages, including — to the surprise of many nutritionists — sugar-laden cereals like Cocoa Krispies and Froot Loops.
“These are horrible choices,” said Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health.
He said the criteria used by the Smart Choices Program were seriously flawed, allowing less healthy products, like sweet cereals and heavily salted packaged meals, to win its seal of approval. “It’s a blatant failure of this system and it makes it, I’m afraid, not credible,” Mr. Willett said.
Sugar Cereals Are 'Smart Choices'? FDA Not So Sure
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 4:53 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ever wondered how that ''Smart Choices'' sticker wound up on the front of Froot Loops or Cocoa Puffs?
Well, federal health officials are having similar thoughts, and they're warning food manufacturers.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that nutritional logos from food manufacturers may be misleading consumers about the actual health benefits of cereal, crackers and other processed foods. The agency sent a letter to companies saying it will begin cracking down on inaccurate food labeling. The FDA did not name specific products or give a timeline for enforcement.
U.S. manufacturers, including Kellogg, Kraft Foods and General Mills, rolled out their so-called Smart Choices program last year, amid growing concern about obesity rates. The green labels appear on the front of foods that meet certain standards for calories per serving and fat content.
But consumer advocates complain about lax standards for the program, with logos appearing on everything from frozen sweets to sugary cereals.
''There are products that have gotten the Smart Choices check mark that are almost 50 percent sugar,'' FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said during a call with reporters.
Originally posted by Sheltieguy: He said the criteria used by the Smart Choices Program were seriously flawed, allowing less healthy products, like sweet cereals and heavily salted packaged meals, to win its seal of approval.
And unfortunately, the millions of Americans who are not as educated as we are in label reading are going to see those check marks and take them as some official sign (like from the FDA or USDA or something) that these products are healthy. What a shame...especially for those with hypertension or diabetes, whose health could be seriously impacted by those products.
I can spend a significant amount of time reading labels in the store when I am buying a product I haven't used before. People often look at me like I'm out of my mind...I rarely see anyone else here reading labels.
I remember once being in Giant (supermarket) and was looking for some soup...I picked up this one that I'd heard about and checked the label. The sodium was like my whole day's allowance of sodium. I said something like "Holy COW!" aloud and an elderly lady looked alarmingly at me...and then when I walked away from the soup, she picked up the same can and looked at the label to see what had caused my reaction. LOL
Posts: 7864 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
Apparently General Mills now puts white check marks on their whole grain cereal options. Unfortunately, this includes their sugar cereals, like Lucky Charms.
This seems just as wrong as the smart choices mark. Sigh...
Life is like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs, but the curves, spirals, loops and corkscrews are what make life interesting.
When mother and I were at the grocery store yesterday I picked up a new frozen dinner that looked good. After I looked at the label I sighed and put it back (sodium 55%!!). Mother looked at me and said, "What's wrong?" to which I replied, "Grocery shopping was a whole lot easier before I started reading labels" She didn't get it
I noticed the other night that there was an add for Long John Silvers offering Smart Choice meals. They were basically baked fish with some sort of sauce being sold for some ridiculously cheap price. It sounded pretty unappealing to me. I suppose if you had to go there, it might be an option. But now I am wondering how much fat and sodium there is in the sauce.
I have also noticed that at our grocery store several things are being labeled as "good choice" snacks and foods endorsed by our NFL quarterback. I am wondering if this is a national campaign or just a local one.
