Cheerios now a drug according to FDA
The Food and Drug Administration slapped General Mills Inc. with a warning over its Cheerios cereal, saying the box’s claims about heart benefits contain “serious violations” of federal law.
In a May 5 warning letter sent to the company and posted on the FDA’s Web site Tuesday, the agency said statements that the product is “clinically proven to help lower cholesterol” make the product a drug under federal law.
Stephen Sundlof, the director of the FDA’s food-safety center, said the agency has noticed a tendency by food companies to cross the line into the drug category by making specific health claims on packaging. He said the FDA is ready to send out more warning letters if it finds more violators, although it has “no specific campaign” to go after food manufacturers.
General Mills spokesman Tom Forsythe said the Cheerios box’s message saying the cereal can “lower your cholesterol 4% in six weeks” has been used for more than two years. The box cites a clinical study involving Cheerios as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Mr. Forsythe said the broader claims on the box about heart health have been permitted by the FDA for 12 years. “The clinical study supporting Cheerios’ cholesterol-lowering benefit is very strong,” he said.
The FDA in it’s ongoing mission to harm people indirectly under the veil of protecting them.
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