Concerned citizens have even drafted a petition on change.org “Don’t Let Kellogg’s Buy Scientists: Froot Loops Aren’t a Healthy Breakfast” to encourage Smart Choices Board Members to remove their support for the Smart Choice Program.

See more about Froot Loops in the blog post on Watch Out for High Sugar and Poor Nutrient Content in Many Children’s Cereals. In the study released by Consumer Reports, Froot Loops ended up with a “fair” rating, with a low fiber amount and 12 grams of sugar. It does appear that Froot Loops has changed their formula lately, adding in more fiber to the popular sugar cereal for a total of 3 grams of fiber in a serving. You can read what Marion Nelson, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University has to say about this change of formula at the Huffington Post.

It will be interesting to see what happens and what the manufactures response will be to the public outcry about their program.

About Smart Spot

The Smart Spot program is a program created by PepsiCo’s to make it “easier for people to identify food and beverage choices that contribute to healthy lifestyles.” The Smart Spot logo appears on more than 250 products across all of PepsiCo’s brands including Tropicana®, Gatorade®, Baked! Lay’s®, Quaker® and Diet Pepsi®.

The Smart Choice Program was motivated by the need for a single, trusted and reliable front-of-pack nutrition labeling program that U.S. food manufacturers and retailers could voluntarily adopt to help guide consumers in making smarter food and beverage choices.

According to their website to qualify for the Smart Choices Program, a product must meet a comprehensive set of nutrition criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other sources of nutrition science and authoritative dietary guidance.

The Smart Choices program was designed to replace the other health labels that have been seen on foods such as “Sensible Solution and “Smart Spot.”

Sources:

Neuman W. September 2009. For Your Health, Froot Loops. NY Times.

MacVean M. September 2009. ‘Smart Choices’ food label: a sign of nutrition or marketing? LA Times.

Hernandez L. October 2009. Parents Question New ‘Smart Choices’ Food Labeling System. The Denver Channel.

Nestle M. July 2009. ‘Better’ junk food about marketing, not health. SF Gate.

Image Source: Carolyn Coles. Fruit Loops Donut. Some rights Reserved.

Ellen featured several “plus” sized models on her show from an upcoming Glamour Magazine will feature a pictorial for October on plus-sized (anything over a size 6) models. Ellen Tweeted about the interview:

These girls are considered “plus sized”, which is crazy.

I think a better term is “normal sized.” Or just “beautiful.”

This move towards featuring more normal sized women is very welcome, considering that the average sized woman is a closer to a size 12 – 14, not a size 0 – 4 seen in the fashion magazines.  These plus-size models are proving that not all models have to be super skinny to be super sexy.

In addition Glamour Magazine Editor, Cindi Lieve, pledged that they will be featuring a wider range of women in their pages than has traditionally been featured.

Let’s hope the trend continues.

More info:

Glamour Magazine’s Normal-Sized Models. October 2009. The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Field. G. September 2009. These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size. Glamour.
Odell A. October 2009. Glamour Delivers More Plus-Size Nude Models. N.Y. Magazine.

More about Hungry Girl
Hungry Girl, a.k.a. Lisa Lillien is not a nutritionist, she’s just hungry and the founder of Hungry-girl.com. Her daily emails filled with containing guilt-free recipes, food and product reviews, dieting news and nutrition shockers are received by over half a million subscribers fans.

In this case, unretouched photos of reality star Kim Kardashian were released by mistake, before the ‘official’ photoshopped version. According to Momlogic, “Women everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.”

You can see the before (left) and after (right) pictures below:

This is Ms. Karsashian’s response from her blog:

So what: I have a little cellulite. What curvy girl doesn’t!?

How many people do you think are photoshopped? It happens all the time!

I’m proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn’t mean I’m perfect.

She used the pictures as motivation to work out in the gym and get into better shape.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the unphotoshopped pic had been the one used on the cover of the magazine. Now that would have been sending a real message that being curvy and having cellulite is o.k.

Sources:

Breaking News! Kim Kardashian Has Cellulite! March 2009. Momlogic.com (See links to more before and after photoshopped images)
Karsashian K. 2009. Yes, I am complex! Kim Kardashian Official Site.
Park M. 2009. Kim Kardashian: ‘So What! I Have Cellulite!‘ People.com
Kim Kardashian Blogs About Complex Magazine Photoshop Fiasco “so What I Have Cellulite.” March 2009. The Insider.com

According to The Buzz Log, “Self magazine admits it did airbrush the singer, but no more than they do every other cover model.”

You can compare her cover picture with the video clip of her photo shoot with Self Magazine.

I am wondering what they did to her face. Her face is more circle-shaped in the video clip and oval in the final cover.

You do have to wonder what kind of message this is sending to our women and girls. Here is some one who reports to be comfortable with her size, but the magazine opted to make her face and her weight more visually appealing, which means showing less of her.

I asked my 9-year-old and 7-year-old what was going on with the pictures. The 7-year-old immediately picked up on the fact that the cover picture was ’skinner’ than the other pictures. After I asked my 9-year-old what she though about them changing the cover, she said it was bad because they were lying about her weight.

Sources:
Zap C. 2009. The Buzz Log: Kelly Clarkson Cover Controversy Rocks The Web. Stop The Presses! Blog. Yahoo Music.
Mock J. 2009. Kelly Clarkson Photo Retouched to Make Her ‘Look Her Best’. People Magazine.

More on Truth in Advertising Weight Issues:

Dyer KA. 2008. Tyra Banks Retort on “Fat” Comments
Nutrition & Wellness Blog.
Dyer KA. 2008. Truth in Advertising: No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. Nutrition & Wellness Blog.

In May the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) sent a warning letter to General Mills, the manufacturers of Cheerios indicating that they had found “serious violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act” in that they believe based on the packaging that Cheerios was “is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.”

According to the Warning Letter sent by the FDA to Cheerios they were accusing General Mills of marketing an “Unproved New Drug”

Based on claims made on your product’s label, we have determined that your Cheerios® Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease. Specifically, your Cheerios® product bears the following claims on its label:

• “you can Lower Your Cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks”
• “Did you know that in just 6 weeks Cheerios can reduce bad cholesterol by an average of 4 percent? Cheerios is … clinically proven to lower cholesterol. A clinical study showed that eating two 1 1/2 cup servings daily of Cheerios cereal reduced bad cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.”

These claims indicate that Cheerios® is intended for use in lowering cholesterol, and therefore in preventing, mitigating, and treating the disease hypercholesterolemia.

Cheerios packaging has changed a lot over the years.  As seen in the photo above, the claims on the packaging are that Cheerios are “Clinically Proven to Help Reduce Cholesterol.” It looks with the latest boxes on the shelves that Cheerios has removed the claims of  lowering your cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks.

I think that the FDA was correct in pointing out that General Mills has crossed a line in it’s packaging and marketing of Cheerios, using language that is usually used when discussing drugs.

With that said, Cheerios has been a staple in our house since the girls were young, because it is one of the few cereals out there with low fat, low sugar, high fiber and healthy benefits from oats.

Sources:

FDA. May 5, 2009. General Mills, Inc. 5/5/09. Warning Letters.

FDA. May 14, 2009. Labeling of Cheerios® Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal Q’s & A’s Regarding FDA’s Warning Letter. Resources for You > Consumers.

Consumers should consult a physician or other health care professional if they are experiencing symptoms possibly associated with these products.

Linda Katz, M.D.
Interim Chief Medical Officer
FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

I saw an ad for Hydroxycut in a magazine this morning and was wondering about the safety and claims made by the product. Another one of those…”looks too good to be true” and “buyer be ware.” I guess it was only been a matter of time that something would come up.

Today the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) issued an official release warning consumers to immediately stop using Hydroxycut products.  To date the FDA has received 23 reports of serious health problems ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes, an indicator of potential liver injury, to liver damage requiring liver transplant. In addition one death due to liver failure has been reported to the FDA.

About Hydroxycut Products
Hydroxycut products are dietary supplements that are marketed for weight-loss, as fat burners, as energy-enhancers, as low carb diet aids, and for water loss under the Iovate and MuscleTech brand names. The products are prodiced by Iovate Health Sciences Inc., of Oakville, Ontario and distributed by Iovate Health Sciences USA Inc. of Blasdell, N.Y.

Return Products to Place of Purchase
Consumers who have any of the products involved in the recall are advised to stop using them and to return them to the place of purchase. The agency has not yet determined which ingredients, dosages, or other health-related factors may be associated with risks related to these Hydroxycut products. The products contain a variety of ingredients and herbal extracts.

List of Hydroxycut Products being Recalled:
The list of products being recalled by Iovate currently includes:

Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Caplets
Hydroxycut Max Liquid Caplets
Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
Hydroxycut Hardcore RTDs (Ready-to-Drink)
Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed
Hydroxycut 24
Hydroxycut Carb Control
Hydroxycut Natural

More on Dietary Supplements

For more information on Dietary Supplements, see the page on FDA 101: Dietary Supplements.

Sources:

FDA. May 1, 2009. FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Products. FDA News.
FDA. May 1, 2009. Hydroxycut Products. FDA Products.

The article takes a look at What’s inside Squirt Cheese.

They found the following ingredients:

• Whey – Byproduct of cheese-making process used as a filler.
• Canola oil – Keeps the cheese from solidifying.
• Salt – Preservative, contains twice the sodium of typical organic cheddar.
• Sodium citrate – Emulsifier.
  
• Sodium phosphate – Degreaser, preservative.
• Calcium phosphate – Adding calcium makes it legal for Kraft to label every can “an excellent source of calcium.”
  
• Lactic acid – Byproduct of bacteria digest the milk sugar lactose.
• Sodium alginate – Gum to increase viscosity.
• Apocarotenal - Yellow-orange pigment.

Food Label

In looking at the food label, you can see that most of the calories come from fat, most of them from saturated fat.

One 32 gram serving has over 400 mg of Sodium.

Due to the addition of Calcium Phosphate, the product provides 20% of a Daily Value of Calcium, which appears to be the only healthy component to this cheese product.

It doesn’t appear to me in reviewing the ingredients in Easy Cheese or Cheez Whiz that it would qualify as a healthy food, or as a milk product in the milk group of the food pyramid.

Ingredients:
MILK, WATER, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEY, CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, SODIUM CITRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, SODIUM ALGINATE, APOCAROTENAL (COLOR), ANNATTO (COLOR), CHEESE CULTURE, ENZYMES.

More about Easy Cheese from the Nabisco Website.

Sources:

Ingredients from EASY CHEESE KRAFT EASY CHEESE CHEDDAR. Nabisco World.

Justo P. October 2006. What’s Inside: Squirt-On Cheese. Wired Magazine.

Easy Cheese. Wikipedia.

Federal health regulators reprimanded Coca-Cola for placing inappropriate nutritional claims on its Diet Coke Plus soft drink. The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to the company, objecting to the product’s labeling, which describes the drink as “Diet Coke with Vitamins and Minerals.”

The FDA has pointed out that the Diet Coke Plus is misbranded. Federal regulators said the beverage does not have enough nutrients to justify the use of the word “plus” in its name.

According to the regulations, foods labeled “plus” must have at least 10 percent more nutrients than comparable products.

Additionally, the FDA said it is inappropriate to add extra nutrients to “snack foods such as carbonated beverages.”

Source:

Perrone. M. December 23, 2008. FDA warns Coca-Cola over nutritional claims. Associated Press.

SuperSize Me Video on Google Videos

This is particularly an eyeopening film when viewed at the end of a nutrition course.