**Smart Choices** food label is marketing fraud;Tufts University involvement que

[Guest guest]

**Smart Choices** food label is marketing fraud; Tufts University

involvement questioned (opinion)

_http://www.naturalnews.com/027077_nutrition_food_Tufts_University.html_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/027077_nutrition_food_Tufts_University.html)

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

 

 

(NaturalNews) The big food companies have dreamed up yet another clever

con to sell processed junk foods to parents and children: A " Smart Choices "

label that implies the food product is a smart choice for health and

nutrition. The problem is that the standards for qualifying for this

designation

were set by the food companies themselves, and processed junk foods like

Froot Loops (a sugary breakfast cereal) qualify.

 

 

Froot Loops is 41 percent processed white sugar. It also contains

processed flour and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil. But that's not all

you'll

find in the box: Froot Loops is also made with synthetic coloring

chemicals, including Red #40, Blue #2, Yellow #6 and Blue #1. The No. 1

ingredient

of Froot Loops is sugar, and each serving contains 12 grams of sugar.

 

 

So how, exactly, did Froot Loops qualify for the " Smart Choices " label?

 

 

I'll tell you how: Because the Smart Choices label is a marketing fraud.

It's a manipulative, dishonest food package labeling system that is

intentionally designed by the processed food companies to mislead and misinform

consumers into buying processed food products, in my view.

 

 

You'd have to be deeply misinformed about nutritional basics to think that

a processed breakfast cereal made of 41% sugar, partially-hydrogenated

oils and artificial coloring chemicals is a " smart choice " for any child. A

more appropriate label might be " Diabetes Choices " or " Obesity Choices " , but

certainly not " Smart Choices. "

 

 

In my opinion, this marketing fraud is little more than a marketing

gimmick. It makes you wonder who, exactly, came up with it.

 

 

Did Tufts University sell out to the food giants?

 

 

The president of the Smart Choices board is T. Kennedy, dean of the

Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

(_http://nutrition.tufts.edu/11745629_ (http://nutrition.tufts.edu/11745629)

....)

 

 

Kennedy and other Tufts University faculty members have established

ties with the Kellogg's company, having participated in a " Children's

Health " forum that was co-sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

 

 

That event, held in June of this year, was entitled: 'Children's Health:

The Future of Food & Nutrition Policy'. It claimed to offer in-depth

discussions on topics like " childhood obesity, nutrition standards, global

child

nutrition and school food. " (_http://www.reuters.com/article/pres_

(http://www.reuters.com/article/pres) ...)

 

 

(Did their discussions ever mention that perhaps children shouldn't eat

breakfast cereals made with 41% processed sugar?)

 

 

In promoting the event, Kennedy was quoted in a joint press

release, admitting how closely her university works with food companies:

 

 

" Working with our colleagues across academia, the food and nutrition

industry, government agencies and nonprofit organizations, we will influence

and

change the nutritional landscape for our children. "

 

 

She certainly accomplished that. Now, products made with 41% refined white

sugar are fraudulently marketed as " Smart Choices. "

 

 

Guess who else was invited to speak at the event? Dr. Cathy Woteki from

Mars, Inc., makers of candy bars and other sugar processed foods that are

aggressively marketed to children.

 

 

Tufts University: Sugar for kids?

 

It all makes you wonder: With all these corporate junk food giants being

so heavily involved in this event presented by Tufts University, what

exactly does this university really stand for in regards to healthy food for

children? Does Tufts University itself stand behind the promotion of sugary

junk foods for children? Does it endorse products like Froot Loops being

labeled as " Smart Choices " for kids?

 

 

Here are the ingredients of Froot Loops:

 

SUGAR; WHOLE GRAIN CORN FLOUR; WHEAT FLOUR; WHOLE GRAIN OAT FLOUR; OAT

FIBER; SOLUBLE CORN FIBER; PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (ONE OR MORE

OF: COCONUT, SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OILS)†; SALT; SODIUM ASCORBATE AND

ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C); NIACINAMIDE; REDUCED IRON; NATURAL ORANGE, LEMON,

CHERRY, RASPBERRY, BLUEBERRY, LIME AND OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS; RED #40; BLUE

#2; TURMERIC COLOR; YELLOW #6; ZINC OXIDE; ANNATTO COLOR; BLUE #1;

PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6); RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2); THIAMIN

HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1); VITAMIN A PALMITATE; BHT (PRESERVATIVE); FOLIC

ACID;

VITAMIN D; VITAMIN B12.

 

 

Is T. Kennedy, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and

Policy at Tufts University, really going to tell us -- with a straight

face -- that this cereal is good for kids?

 

 

Really?

 

 

Aiming low

 

She might answer, of course, that " it meets U.S. government nutritional

guidelines. " Those are the same guidelines that have already made the United

States of America a nation grappling with a pandemic of obese children and

adults.

 

 

Clearly, U.S. government nutritional guidelines are a public health

disaster. If we hope to improve the health of our children, it only stands to

reason that we must improve the nutritional guidelines being followed to feed

our kids. And you can't improve nutritional guidelines if you're in bed

with the very same corporate food giants who are making and peddling their

sugary, chemically-enriched breakfast cereals that promote diabetes and obesity

in the first place.

 

 

You also can't improve kids' health if you're nutritionally ill-informed

and yet you've somehow found your way into a position of influence over

nutritional policy... as seems to be the case with Dr. Kennedy. Here's

her gosh-darned explanation of why Froot Loops deserves the " Smart Choices "

label, in her own words: " You're rushing around, you're trying to think

about healthy eating for your kids and you have a choice between a doughnut and

a cereal. So Froot Loops is a better choice. "

 

 

Better than a donut?

 

 

Huh? Is she serious? Froot Loops gets a Smart Choices label because it's

better than a donut? Is this the limit of the nutritional awareness of the

dean of a nationally-recognized school that's part of the Tufts University

system?

 

 

This all really reminds me of the movie Idiocracy, where the whole nation

is run by complete idiots and water fountains have been replaced with

sugary sports drinks because everybody knows that " water is only for toilets. "

 

 

In terms of really idiotic thinking, check out this quote published in the

New York Times: " Dr. Clark, who is a member of the Smart Choices board,

said that the program's standard for sugar in cereals was consistent with

federal dietary guidelines that say that 'small amounts of sugar' added to

nutrient-dense foods like breakfast cereals can make them taste better. That,

in theory, will encourage people to eat more of them, which would increase

the nutrients in their diet. "

 

 

Are they serious? Break down this logic for a moment: Sugar is GOOD

because it encourages children to eat MORE processed breakfast cereals!

 

 

How on earth could this be a legitimate answer in a nation where kids are

eating too much sugar and too much processed food in the first place?

 

 

The utter abandonment of basic common sense by the people in this program

is truly awe-inspiring. It really makes me wonder how we can ever turn

around the health problems of this nation when we have such nutritionally

illiterate people being quoted in the New York Times as nutritional experts. (Or

perhaps the NY Times was just trying to point out how nutritionally

ignorant these people are, and on that point it succeeded wildly...)

 

 

Someone please educate Dr. Kennedy about nutrition

 

Tufts University is an outstanding academic institution. It's done a lot

of good work and produced many important studies on nutrition and health.

But this pro-sugary-cereals stance by its nutrition school dean is, well,

just flat out embarrassing. It makes Tufts University look like the best

little corporate nutrition whorehouse in Boston. They might as well just remove

the word " science " from the name of the school: Gerald J. and Dorothy R.

Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

 

 

That name should probably be replaced with this one, which is more

accurate: Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Corporate Ass Kissers.

I'm

pretty sure the Friedmans wouldn't appreciate that name, but neither would

they likely appreciate a deeply misinformed dean potentially compromising

the reputation of their school by seemingly selling out to the very companies

whose products undeniably contribute to our kids becoming obese and

diabetic in the first place.

 

 

Don't let 'em get away with this sell out. Contact the School of Nutrition

Science and Policy at Tufts University and tell 'em what you think about

their dean endorsing Froot Loops for children (among other processed junk

foods) under the " Smart Choices " label. This is inexcusable! Their contact

page is right here:

_http://nutrition.tufts.edu/1174562918741/Nutrition-Page-nl2w_1177953853481.html\

_

(http://nutrition.tufts.edu/1174562918741/Nutrition-Page-nl2w_1177953853481.html\

)

 

 

Not all top university nutritionists are hopelessly ignorant when it comes

to nutrition, by the way. The chair of the nutrition department at the

Harvard School of Public Health, Walter Willett, told the New York Times that

many products carrying the " Smart Choices " label " are horrible choices. " In

fact, quite a number of influential nutrition leaders have spoken out

publicly against Dr. Kennedy.

 

 

Smart Choices companies aren't so smart choices

 

In case you're curious, here's the list of the companies participating in

this " Smart Choices " label program:

 

 

Kellogg's

Kraft Foods

ConAgra Foods

Unilever

General Mills

PepsiCo

Tyson Foods

 

 

.... it reads like a who's who of processed food and junk food giants. In

terms of making truly smart choices at the grocery store, by the way, the

smartest choice would be to avoid any product made by any of these companies,

in my view.

 

 

What integrity really means

 

Michael Jacobson, the public health watchdog from CSPI, participated as a

panel member in the early days of the Smart Choices program, but he soon

quit, explaining " It was paid for by industry and when industry put down its

foot and said this is what we're doing, that was it, end of story. " In

other words, Jacobson rightly refused to sell out his conscience to a group of

corporate junk food promoters. That's a rare display of genuine integrity in

our world.

 

 

I applaud Jacobson for quitting the Smart Choices program, which is

obviously just a fraudulent marketing gimmick devised by these companies to

intentionally mislead consumers. It's too bad the dean of Tufts University's

nutrition school couldn't find the backbone to adhere to similar principles.

In a nation suffering from runaway health care costs, widespread nutritional

deficiencies and an epidemic of childhood obesity, it's truly

disheartening to see an influential nutrition leader from one of the nation's

top

universities blatantly promoting processed junk foods for children.

 

 

I'm appalled, saddened and somewhat surprised to see this in 2009. While

the nutritional advice of T. Kennedy might have passed muster in the

1970's era of bleached white Wonder Bread and chemically-enhanced TV

dinners, today we know a lot more about the links between the dietary intake of

sugars and childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease and behavioral

disorders. We know that feeding a nation of children sugared-up breakfast

cereals

and soft drinks is a sure recipe for raising a generation of obese, diabetic

children and teens.

 

 

As the dean of the school of nutrition at Tufts University, how is it

possible that Mrs. Kennedy could have missed this? Has she been in an

aspartame-induced coma since 1975? ... and now she suddenly awakens from her

decades-long slumber to slap on a pair of polyester pants and champion Froot

Loops

for children as a prominent dean at Tufts University?

 

 

Is this some bizarre rejected screenplay from a " B " movie script? Will her

head now spin around as she spouts devilish verse from a demonic spirit

that has occupied her body and filled her head with thoughts of sugary

cereals?

 

 

The whole thing just defies reason. It's difficult to believe this is

happening today, in America, in a top-rated university. So read the sources

below. Check it out for yourself as you confirm the truth of what I'm

reporting here through articles in the NY Times, CBS News and Reuters. See for

yourself just how corrupt and / or ignorant the top nutrition leaders in our

nation's universities can be on this crucial issue of the diet of children.

And when you see this clearly, you'll finally understand why America has more

fat, diabetic children than any other nation in the world.

 

 

Our adults have sold out our children. It's that simple. In my opinion,

corporate money has bought off key influencers who set public nutrition

policy, and they have conspired to feed our kids more sugar, more processed

foods, more junk and more lies about nutrition even while their selfish actions

may very well bankrupt our entire nation through runaway health care

costs.

 

 

One final truth comes out in all this: The USA's national nutrition

policies precisely mirror its national food supply -- they're both processed,

bleached, adulterated and wholly devoid of any useful substance.

 

 

Sources for this story include:

 

 

Reuters:

_http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS211273+27-May-2009+PRN20090

52_

(http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS211273+27-May-2009+PRN2009052)

 

The New York Times

_http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html?_r=1 & pagewanted=1 & e

m_

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html?_r=1 & pagewanted=1 & em)

 

LA Times

_http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/smart-choices-sugary-

cereal.html_

(http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/smart-choices-sugary-cere\

al.html)

 

CBS News

_http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/06/eveningnews/main5291352.shtml_

(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/06/eveningnews/main5291352.shtml)

 

Froot Loops ingredients:

_http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=566_

(http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=566)

 

Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy:

_http://nutrition.tufts.edu/_ (http://nutrition.tufts.edu/)