Don’t believe everything a box of cereal tells you. Lots of foods are packaged with little logos and stickers, telling us how healthy the stuff inside is. But is it really that healthy?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says maybe not. They’re taking a closer look at the actual content of popular foods like cereal and crackers — with an eye for whether or not consumers are being mislead about the health benefits.
One program being targeted is the “Smart Choices” sticker — the little green check mark on certain foods, declaring that the contents are indeed a Smart Choice. A group of manufacturers (including Kellogg’s, Kraft, and General Mills) started promoting the Smart Choices program last year to single out foods that met certain standards for fat content and calories per serving.
The program may not take into account other important factors, however — like sugar content. That’s why some very sugary cereals earned the green check. A spokesperson for the FDA pointed out that some products with nearly fifty percent sugar content earned the Smart Choices check.
But Smart Choices isn’t the only logo under fire. Food packaging is covered with symbols these days, in the hopes of drawing consumers in for a healthy meal or snack. The FDA just isn’t sure that these logos have been earned by the foods within.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is drafting nutritional standards that foods will need to meet before earning an eye-catching logo like the Smart Choices check mark. Another hope is that the food industry will adopt a standard labeling system to help cut down on consumer confusion. One system to use as a model is the United Kingdom’s “traffic light” system — red, yellow, and green lights highlight the health value of a particular item.
But in the meantime, the FDA has sent a letter to foodmakers warning them about inaccurate claims. Although no timeline has been set, the FDA plans to start cracking down on labels with outrageous health claims.
In response, the Smart Choices program will be postponing operations and not encouraging wider use of the green check mark logo. Some companies are planning to remove the logo from future packaging — but will leave currently labeled product on the shelves. The nine companies pointed out in their response to the FDA that their Smart Choices nutritional criteria was based on federal dietary guidelines.