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Kelloggs’ White Flag

On June 14, 2007 the Kellogg Company announced two initiatives that will change the way you see cereal.

The first initiative is something we applaud, the inclusion of nutrient information based on Guideline Daily Amounts on the front of the packaging. This “Nutrition at a Glance” graphic will be found on the front right corner of the box. This will NOT replace the Nutrition Fact Panel on the side of the box, but will simply make reading the information while shopping easier.

The information that will be included in the graphic based on GDA per serving are:

• Calories
• Total Fat
• Sodium
• Sugars
• Nutrients

The second initiative deals with their advertising practices on current products. By placing the Nutrient Criteria requirement on products advertised to children between the ages of 6-12 (Kelloggs currently does not advertise to any children under the age of 6), Kelloggs effectively has placed Toucan Sam along with Snap, Crackle, and Pop on the endangered species list. Both Froot Loops and Rice Krispies don’t currently meet the criteria, and if re-formulating the product does not bring them into line, then advertising will be dropped.

The problem with this is two-fold. First, changing the formula may render the product that has been a staple in households across America as unrecognizable (and quite possibly downright nasty tasting) by taste which will no longer conjure the sense of nostalgia and memories of childhoods past that so many adults crave. The second problem, if the re-formulated products STILL do not meet the Nutrient Criteria then advertising will be dropped from outlets that cater to the 6-12 year olds. Media outlets such as Nickelodeon (approx. $44 million dollars in advertising from Kelloggs in 2006) and Cartoon Network (approx. $20 million dollars in advertising from Kelloggs in 2006) will lose millions of advertising dollars. This will result in lower quality programming from these outlets, the cessation of new developments, and the lose of jobs for those in the industry.

The fact is that the cereal brands have been around for at least half a century. Childhood obesity is hardly caused by breakfast cereals. Some more attributable factors would be the new sedimentary lifestyle children are leading today, the fast food restaurants that working parents regularly turn to as a meal, and the decrease in after school activity funding. Any easy target for blame would be the parents, but at the same time we are living in economical times when it is hard enough for two parents working full time jobs to support their families let alone one parent.

Toucan Sam along with Snap, Crackle, and Pop are Americana Icons. To attack them is attacking the very foundations of the freedoms America was based on. If I want to eat Froot Loops, I should be allowed to eat Froot Loops as I did 25 years ago. If I allow my son to watch a channel that Kelloggs wants to show a Toucan Sam commercial on, then in fact he should see the commercial. If the commercial provides the urge for him to have Froot Loops, I as the parent ultimately have the final say with what I am willing to pay for, and what I’m not.

General Mills and Post Follow

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.”

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.

The Economic Impact

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.

Already, on August 16, 2007 the Wall Street Journal reported that Kraft Foods, the parent of Post Cereal, is in fact thinking about selling Post. Possible buyers include General Mills and Kelloggs, who would be looking to add Post’s healthier brands to their products.

On August 28, 2007 General Mills announced they would be closing two plants and laying off 581 employees. The two plants, one in Pennsylvania and one in Canada, do NOT manufacture cereal but rather frozen waffles and dough. This is simply foreshadowing of what will happen down the road to the cereal plants as the lack of advertising will cause fewer sales.

How do we combat this? There is only one thing to do…

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