General Mills Bows To Cereal Tyrants

General Mills joined Kelloggs, Kraft Foods (Post Cereal) and eight other companies in pledging changes in their products approved by The Council of Better Business Bureaus under their Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative program. The pledges were announced at a forum entitled “Weighing In: A Check-Up on Marketing, Self-Regulation, and Childhood Obesity” on Wednesday June 18, 2007.

Not surprisingly some of the tyrants behind this movement, the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, have determined that this is already a failure. In their statement about the pledges they conclude that “It’s the role of government, not corporations bound by law to maximize profits, to safeguard public health.”

To this I have three words…

Oh. Hell. No.

Besides the fact that the government’s public safety record is far from the best it could be, their constant and consistent intrusion into the lives of its citizens continues to be disturbing. The fact remains that childhood obesity is a new epidemic. There is no doubt that it is going on. Holding companies that have produced products for over 50 years accountable for the poor educational system where their parents were obviously not effectively taught about nutrition, physical activity, and meal planning (as overseen by the VERY SAME GOVERNMENT that they now want to regulate the cereal industry) is not only wrong but IRRESPONSIBLE. As pointed out on my Save The Cereal page, this is also an attack on American culture itself.

Here are the individual pledges made by each cereal company:

• General Mills, Inc.’s pledge provides that any product advertised to children under 12 must meet or exceed its nutrition guidelines for Health Dietary Choices, which are based on FDA standards for healthy foods, and the U.S. Dietary Guideline recommendations regarding foods targeted for increased consumption, and include limits on calories, fat, sodium and trans fat. In addition, General Mills will no longer advertise to children foods containing more than 12 grams of sugar per serving. All products will meet these requirements by the end of 2008, or they will no longer be advertised to children under 12.
• Kellogg Co.’s pledge reflects nutritional standards, announced in June, that include limits on calories, fat and sodium, as well as a 12 gram-per-serving sugar limitation, that are derived from FDA and Institute of Medicine (IOM) standards. The application of the company’s nutrient criteria affects nearly 50 percent of Kellogg’s products, including cereals, currently marketed to children worldwide. By the end of 2008, the company will either reformulate products to meet its criteria or it will stop advertising them to children.
• Post Cereals advertises only cereals that meet its Sensible Solution criteria. All of the cereals that it advertises to children have less than 12 grams of sugar and include either whole grains or a good source of fiber.

What none of this addresses is the economic impact of the lack of advertising dollars that will occur, which will lead to a lack of interest in the product, which will lead to less of the product being manufactured in order to maintain a marginal profit, which will then also lead to lay offs. The lay offs won’t just come from the cereal companies, but from entertainment companies who lost the advertising dollar, the shipping companies who will no longer move the product, and the distribution centers where less product will require less workers.

Why is it that the premiere cereal companies are being forced to negatively affect American culture and economics while the “imitation” brand is the one that is helping Americans feed their children by giving them jobs?

Obviously someone needs a wake-up call.

Stop the tyranny!!! Click here to Save The Cereal! Spread the word!!!