It seems General Mills has been making false claims on cereal boxes about the benefits of their products. They claimed consuming Cheerios helps lower cholesterol levels and consuming Frosted Mini-Wheats improves children’s attentiveness. The FDA has cracked down on these claims and is taking a more aggressive stance towards the companies it regulates.

Below is an article from The Wall Street Journal:

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.

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• FDA warning letter to General Mills

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 said such specific cholesterol-lowering claims can be made only for drugs, and it suggested that if General Mills wants to keep the box labeling as is, it should file a new-drug application for Cheerios.

Mr. Forsythe said the company would work with the agency to reach a “resolution” on the Cheerios labeling.

“We try to make a bright line here between what can be said about a drug and what can be said about a food,” said Dr. Sundlof. He said a more general claim about reduction in heart-disease risk from eating whole-grain foods may be permissible as long as specific language is used.

The FDA also took issue with a company-sponsored Web site mentioned on the Cheerios box. The Web site discusses the benefits of eating whole grains, but the FDA said some of the health claims about reducing cancer and heart-disease risk don’t comply with agency rules.

The FDA said General Mills must “promptly” correct the violations outlined in the letter or the agency could take enforcement action, such as seizing products.

Dr. Sundlof said the FDA’s review of Cheerios was prompted by a September 2008 letter from the National Consumers League that expressed concerns about the labeling on Cheerios.

The FDA isn’t the only Washington agency in the Obama administration taking a close look at food makers’ health claims. Last month the Federal Trade Commission settled a complaint with Kellogg Co. involving claims that its Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal was clinically shown to improve children’s attentiveness by nearly 20%.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said the commission would start paying more attention to national advertisers.

The FDA is showing signs of taking a more aggressive stance toward the companies it regulates under acting Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, who is slated to become principal deputy commissioner once President Barack Obama’s nominee for commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, is confirmed.

Dr. Sharfstein wrote a letter to lawmakers released this week saying he wants to review the agency’s approval in the final days of the Bush administration of a knee device. The device was cleared over the objections of several scientists and managers at the agency.

The morale of this story is: Don’t believe every claim you read, do your research and always read your nutrition labels.

For more nutrition tips and noteworthy news please contact us at info@personalwebnutrition.com.

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture single out whole-grain foods, recommending that half of one’s daily food grain servings should be whole grain.

What is a whole-grain? A whole grain is just that, the whole kernel of the wheat, rye, oat, barley, corn, rice or other grain. All kernels have three parts: the bran, the endosperm and the germ. The bran is the high-fiber outer coating of the grain kernel that gives whole grains their darker color. The endosperm is the starchy center of the kernel. The germ contains vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients.

High-fiber foods are not the same thing as whole-grain foods. Looking at fiber alone does not tel you if a food is made from whole grains. Read the ingredient list carefully, focusing on products with 100% whole in their names, whole wheat, brown rice, whole-grain oats or corn. Manufacturers pay for the use of the Whole Grains Council stamp that appears on thousands on products. The stamp lists the total amount of whole grain per serving. Your goal should be at least 48 grams of whole grains per day, which is the equivalent of three servings of 100% whole-grain foods.

Need another reason to eat whole-grains? Research suggests that eating foods made with whole-grains improves the body’s response to insulin. This is extremely important because people with type 2 diabetes usually have poor sensitivity to insulin. Studies show that even just one serving of whole-grain foods a day helps insulin levels.

How do you increase your daily whole-grain intake? It is easy. Just make simple food swaps: eat 100% whole-wheat bread instead of white bread, eat brown rice instead of white rice, eat whole-wheat spaghetti instead of regular spaghetti, eat whole-grain cereal instead of regular cereal OR eat oatmeal instead of farina.

Good Luck incorporating more whole-grains into your lifestyle! Please feel free to contact us at info@personalwebnutrition.com for more personalized nutrition advice.