Kid Cereals' Truth in Advertising

Don't you love it? Froot Loops are a "Smart Choice" and Coca Puffs boost your immune system--misleading claims from manufacturers allowed to police themselves while peddling sugar- and salt-laden products. No wonder we need oversight.

You are right, Larry. I propose we create something called a Food and Drug Administration or a United States Department of Agriculture to provide the oversight. We will put government workers in charge of these groups just to make sure they are run properly and cereal manufactures cannot put misleading claims on their products.

Or perhaps we can encourage parents to take some responsibility and not feed their kids crap? Nah. I think the government oversight will work just fine.

[Jenise]

Or perhaps we can encourage parents to take some responsibility and not feed their kids crap? Nah. I think the government oversight will work just fine.

I enjoy your humor, Dave, but don't you think the truth is evident to anyone who wants to know (key word: wants)? Last weekend I watched Bob's uncle, who is diabetic and has suffered two hospitalizations this year with congestive heart failure, who is smart and well-educated, whose wife is also both, eat a box of Apple Jacks for breakfast. There, even two very serious health problems hasn't changed the way two people capable of doing more for themselves choose to eat. Like too much of America they eat only in order to not be hungry, and whether or not they believe the claims on the boxes they are so convenience-oriented it hardly matters. Nutrition is too much trouble.

You are right, Larry. I propose we create something called a Food and Drug Administration or a United States Department of Agriculture to provide the oversight. We will put government workers in charge of these groups just to make sure they are run properly and cereal manufactures cannot put misleading claims on their products.

Or perhaps we can encourage parents to take some responsibility and not feed their kids crap? Nah. I think the government oversight will work just fine.

It just might work better with government oversight; notice that I said the cereal companies were supposed to police themselves regarding the "Smart Choice" stickers on their products. Didn't work, did it? Would you prefer companies to inspect and approve their own meat and fish without any government oversight? How about restaurant health inspections? Leave them up to the restaurants?

Cereal has never been a breakfast food for me, too overly processed with an ingredients list that contains words I can't even pronounce. It is sad to see so many kids eating the stuff every day of the week and sometimes for dinner. For some families it is the "go to" box to grab when hungry. However, we recently discovered a cereal at Costco called Spiced Pecan. The ingredients list is:

Rolled oats, evaporated cane juice, whole grain wheat, pecans, almonds, corn bran, brown rice syrup, whole wheat flour, wheat bran, calcium carbonate, apple juice concentrate, sunflower seeds, brown rice flour, corn starch, canola oil, pregelatinized yellow corn flour, honey, sugar, whole oat flour, cinnamon, inulin, rice flour, evaporated cane juice invert syrup, barley malt extract, salt, pregelatinized wheat starch, guar gum, cellulose gum, natural flavors, soy lecithin, baking soda, natural vitamin E (mixed tocopherols added to preserve freshness), nutmeg, molasses, corn oil, trisodium phosphate, caramel color, and ammatto (color).

This did not seem to be as bad as all the rest of the lists I have read and this cereal is darn good. We love the crunch, and a small amount seems to stick with us all morning. I like it dry with Greek yogurt, and fruit on top.
I wonder just how many families take the time to cook for their little ones before they head off to school? We cook up a batch of steel oats in our "Little Dipper" and it gives about four servings. Easy to do and takes so little effort.