Geee Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Archive PH THE MAKERS OF Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, and other popular cereal brands are bitterly lobbying against a new Food and Drug Administration proposal that would prevent them from labeling their products as “healthy.” The proposed FDA rule mandates that foods labeled as healthy must contain a major food group — such as dairy, fruits, or whole grains — and must fit certain limits on saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. The rule limits cereals, for example, to no more than 2.5 grams of sugar per serving in order to be labeled as healthy — a restriction food manufacturers claim would exclude over 95 percent of ready-to-eat cereals on the market. In response, processed food companies that produce a variety of snacks, baked goods, pastas, and frozen pizzas are challenging the rules before they are finalized by the agency. Among the most vocal food companies are producers of high-sugar cereals, which are largely marketed to children and have been criticized as a driver of the obesity epidemic in America. In a joint filing made last month, the largest cereal producers in the country — General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Post Consumer Brands — decried the proposed nutritional criteria and threatened to file a lawsuit, challenging the guidelines as a violation of corporate free speech rights. The rule, “if finalized in its present form,” the companies wrote, “would be open to legal challenge in that it violates the First Amendment by prohibiting truthful, non-misleading claims in an unjustified manner and also exceeds FDA’s statutory authority in several ways.” The idea of a legal challenge may not be an idle threat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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