LOL
I wonder if Cheerios will be covered by my prescription insurance?
- Steve N
Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says
Popular US breakfast cereal Cheerios is a drug, at least if the claims
made on the label by its manufacturer General Mills are anything to go
by, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said.
"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," the FDA said in a letter to General Mills
which was posted on the federal agency's website Tuesday.
Cheerios labels claim that eating the cereal can help lower bad
cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease, by four percent
in six weeks.
Citing a clinical study, the product labels also claim that eating two
servings a day of Cheerios helps to reduce bad cholesterol when eaten as
part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, the FDA letter
says.
Those claims indicate that Cheerios -- said by General Mills to be the
best-selling cereal in the United States -- is intended to be used to
lower cholesterol and prevent, lessen or treat the disease
hypercholesterolemia, and to treat and prevent coronary heart disease.
"Because of these intended uses, the product is a drug," the FDA
concluded in its letter.
Not only that, but Cheerios is a new drug because it has not been
"recognized as safe and effective for use in preventing or treating
hypercholesterolemia or coronary heart disease," the FDA said.
That means General Mills may not legally market Cheerios unless it
applies for approval as a new drug or changes the way it labels the
small, doughnut-shaped cereal, the FDA said.
General Mills defended the claims on Cheerios packaging, saying in a
statement that Cheerios' soluble fiber heart health claim has been
FDA-approved for 12 years, and that its "lower your cholesterol four
percent in six weeks" message has been featured on the box for more than
two years.
The FDA's quibble is not about whether Cheerios cereal is good for you
but over "how the Cheerios cholesterol-lowering information is presented
on the Cheerios package and website," said General Mills.
"We look forward to discussing this with FDA and to reaching a
resolution."
