Blame it on the propagandized paranoia over the supposedly pandemic level of Influenza A (H1N1), otherwise known as swine flu. Parents’ fears may be sending them to the grocery store to stock on Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies that boasts in its advertising such immunity-boosting powers of its cereal product.
It seems that some companies are cashing in on the swine flu paranoia, apart from Big Pharma and vaccine manufacturers. After all, fear is the biggest market. According to Kelly Brownell, director of the Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, “This one belongs in the hall of fame. By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity.”
The dubious claim is written in bold typeface and says: “Now helps support your child’s IMMUNITY.” ‘But the company says the cereal line has been in the works since before the swine flu scare ramped up.’ Critics have been attacking this immunity-boosting claim from Kellogg’s, the US’ largest cereal maker, saying that it sends an easily misinterpreted message beyond nutritious cereals by claiming immunity boost.
As one nutrition professor says, “The idea that eating Cocoa Krispies will keep a kid from getting swine flu, or from catching a cold, doesn’t make sense. Yes, these nutrients are involved in immunity, but I can’t think of a nutrient that isn’t involved in the immune system.”
According to Dennis Herrera, San Francisco’s city attorney, “I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children.” San Francisco had sent a letter to Kellogg’s and to the Food and Drug Administration asking the company to prove its claim.
Via USA TODAY
