Kellogg's Claims Raise FTC Ire

WASHINGTONA year after FTC reached an agreement with Kellogg related to certain health claims it made for Frosted Mini-Wheats, the agency announced a new settlement relating to immune health claims the cereal behemoth was making for its Rice Krispies cereal. Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, MI, agreed to the June 3 modification of the April 2009 order expanding the marketing restrictions related to health claims on packaging or in marketing.

The original case concerned national advertising claims touting the ability of Frosted Mini-Wheats to improve childrens attentiveness by nearly 20 percent, as shown in clinical studies. However, FTC reported the study did not show such results in children who ate the cereal for breakfast and, further, that comparative claims about cognitive function in children who didnt eat breakfast were also false. The settlement barred Kelloggs from making deceptive or misleading cognitive health claims for Kelloggs breakfast foods and snack foods and barred the company from misrepresenting any tests or studies regarding any morning or snack food product.

In the current case, FTC charged Kelloggs with making unsubstantiated and misleading claims about the ability of Rice Krispies cereal to support your childs immunity and promoting the inclusion of antioxidants and nutrients. Kellogg has agreed to expand the 2009 settlement order, which now prohibits the company from making claims about any health benefit of any food unless the claims are backed by scientific evidence and not misleading.

The Commission voted unanimously to modify the 2009 settlement order; two commissioners issued a separate joint statement taking Kellogg to task. Commissioner Julie Brill and Chairman Jon Leibowitz stated their concerns that the company was negotiating with FTC to settle the earlier allegations even as it was developing the Rice Krispies campaign, which launched in July 2009, that led to the June 2010 modification. In part, their statement noted: The company clearly has the means and ability to carefully test its childrens food products to determine if the products in fact provide health benefits for kids. We are also confident that Kellogg has the wherewithal to carefully develop truthful and nonmisleading advertising about such health benefits. We hope that the Commission action announced today communicates to industry that it has an obligation to be honest with the public.