WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Has Kellogg just dropped the ball? It looks like it's just missed a golden opportunity to give a whole new lease of life to its original breakfast cereal.
The world's leading cereal producer and a top manufacturer of convenience foods with sales last year of nearly $11 billion, Kellogg Co. has just announced it will try to modify the ingredients in its products targeted at children to make them healthier. And if they don't succeed, they'll just stop advertising them to those under 12.
The nutritional goal they are setting themselves is servings that clock in at under 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fats, 230 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of sugar and no trans fat.
Almost 50 percent of Kellogg products are marketed directly to children worldwide. Trouble is, kids are now conditioned to seek out those sweet, neon-colored breakfast foods like Kellogg's own Apple Jacks and Froot Loops or sugar-laden Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
In a June 14 press release, the company announced new front-of-pack nutrition labeling. Guideline Daily Amounts will appear in the top right hand corner of cereal boxes, identifying percentages of calories, total fat, sodium and grams of sugar per serving. You'll have to read them carefully to discover that Kellogg's Frosted Flakes pass muster while Rice Krispies don't on account of their high salt content.
Its own Kellogg Global Nutrient Criteria will determine which products they will market to children on TV, in print, on the radio and over the Internet -- and how. So it may not be curtains for the extended Tony The Tiger family.
All of this rush to change is not because Kellogg has suddenly taken a decision to spare children from obesity, but because the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood both threatened to sue the cereal company and Nickelodeon over Kellogg's advertising to children.
The two advocacy groups appear to have been mollified by Kellogg's initiative. But they should look across the pond to see how much more demanding they might have been.
Exactly this time last year, Eat to Live reported that in the wake of evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom that children eat more after being bombarded with TV food ads, Britain's independent media regulator Ofcom has restricted television advertising aimed at children of food and drink products high in fat, salt and sugar, to combat the rise of clinical obesity among British children.
It also prohibited the use of celebrities and licensed cartoon characters to endorse junk-food products. Also barred are promotional offers and health claims in junk-food product ads aimed at children.
Kellogg president and Chief Executive Officer David Mackay said in the June 14 press release: "The initiatives we're announcing today set a new standard of responsibility and are consistent with our 100-plus-year heritage, further strengthening our commitment to helping consumers make informed food choices."
Has he thought about focusing the spotlight on Kellogg's Corn Flakes and leaving his company's sugary rainbow products in the wings? A 28 gram serving contains 100 calories, 2 grams of sugar, 200 milligrams of sodium and no fat.
If your child wants something sugary and colorful for breakfast, chop up chunks of day-glo watermelon, sunset-orange cantaloupe, lime-green apple, shocking pink strawberries, purple grapes, and mix them all together into a bowl.
