I found out something rather sobering in the last couple of days. I may have a drug in my house and I didn’t even know it. Thank goodness for the Food and Drug Administration for alerting me. Heaven only knows what might have become of me and my family otherwise.
It’s one of those unpleasant surprises you get sometimes, but what’s most insidious about it is that the drug is disguised as something that I’ve trusted since my childhood, and had no inkling that it could possibly be a problem.
It’s Cheerios.
Maybe I should have known. See, like many children, I ate Cheerios and a number of other dry cereals for breakfast growing up. Looking back, I recall that the other cereals had an initial appeal because they were new and different. Yes, I went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. I was inveigled by Tony and his grrrreat Frosted Flakes. Because I was a kid, Kix and Trix were definitely for me. All these brands and more held my attention and tempted my taste buds for a while, but somehow I always came back to my tried-and-true favorite, Cheerios. My affinity for those familiar little toasted Os of whole-grain goodness stayed with me, and to this day, I have a box of them in my pantry.
But now, after the FDA announcement, I feel like such a fool. Apparently I’ve been most cruelly used. Duped by yet another heartless corporate giant who put profit ahead of the welfare of its customers.
By the way, I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but I think it’s important to point out that this is another of those “General” companies, General Mills, in this case. You may recall the recent problems with General Motors, which the federal government was forced to take over (but not run).
Anyway, Susan Cruzan (yes, that apparently is her real name) in the FDA’s press office says General Mills is promoting Cheerios in a way that “cause it to be a drug.”
See, what General Mills did was cite the results of clinical tests that show when you eat Cheerios, it helps prevent coronary heart disease. It has to do with that whole-grain goodness that’s in them, which reduces the bad cholesterol. The FDA doesn’t dispute that Cheerios do what the company says they do. But they say General Mills can’t make the claim about the cereal’s beneficial effects unless the company submits “an approved new drug application.”
According to Cruisin’ Susan Cruzan, that’s because General Mills was too specific. It would be OK for the company to say “heart disease,” but not “coronary heart disease.”
“This is a food product and they do have a health claim,” is what she reportedly said. 
So, if General Mills doesn’t take that true health-benefit statement off their cereal boxes, the FDA wants to force the company to take all those cheery little Os off the shelf. Presumably, the only way to have them for breakfast then would be to get a prescription.
After such an obviously self-serving attempt on the part of General Mills to make truthful claims about its product, I wasn’t surprised to read that the Center for Science in the Public Interest was quick to endorse the admonition of the FDA. The center’s director of legal affairs, Bruce Silverglade, was said to have cautioned unwary consumers that Cheerios is a “21st century version of snake oil.”
It got me thinking that there are other “food products” that help people avoid disease, and I wonder if those items may soon also become drugs.
The first thing that comes to mind is citrus fruit, such as oranges, lemons, and limes that prevent scurvy. I just hope the citrus growers don’t start making a big deal of it. The last thing I want is to have to get a prescription every time I want to make lemonade. -RB