FDA to Cheerios - Stop claiming you are a cholesterol drug

Under the do-nothing George Bush FDA, anybody could claim anything and nobody would say a word.

The Cheerios ads and the "Heart Healthy" claims on their boxes are egregious. We think their reasoning is based on a Talmudic compound doubt. First, we doubt that there is any real science that validates the notion that eating Cheerios lowers a person's cholesterol any more than eating cardboard lowers one's cholesterol. Second we doubt that lowering cholesterol actually has a benefit for a person's heart. True on the latter claim there are many studies claiming benefits for the heart of reduced cholesterol. But when you look closely at the results of those medical studies, you realize that they show a modest reduction in risks, not a cure of any disease. Hence these double doubts undermine the cereal's claims.

We are glad the Obama FDA has chosen cheerios first to start making clear that we will not tolerate the antics of 19th century snake oil salesmen in the 21st century.

U.S. objects to General Mills' Cheerios health claims

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Mills made unauthorized health claims about the heart-related benefits of its Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal, U.S. regulators said in a letter released on Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it considered language about cholesterol-lowering on Cheerios boxes to be unapproved drug claims. The language did not qualify under the government's approved claims associating fiber from whole grain oats with reduced risk of heart disease, the May 5 letter said.

General Mills officials were not immediately available for comment.