Kellogg's Caused Childhood Obesity

[RonJonSurfer]

Kellogg to raise nutrition of kids' food By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Kellogg Co., the world's largest cereal maker, has agreed to raise the nutritional value of cereals and snacks it markets to children.

The Battle Creek, Mich., company avoided a lawsuit threatened by parents and nutrition advocacy groups worried about increasing child obesity. Kellogg intends to formally announce its decision Thursday.

The company said it won't promote foods in TV, radio, print or Web site ads that reach audiences at least half of whom are under age 12 unless a single serving of the product meets these standards:

_No more than 200 calories.

_No trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat.

_No more than 230 milligrams of sodium, except for Eggo frozen waffles.

_No more than 12 grams of sugar, not counting sugar from fruit, dairy and vegetables.

Kellogg said it would reformulate products to meet these criteria or stop marketing them to children under 12 by the end of 2008.

"By committing to these nutrition standards and marketing reforms, Kellogg has vaulted over the rest of the food industry," said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "This commitment means that parents will find it a little easier to steer their children toward healthy food choices — especially if other food manufacturers and broadcasters follow Kellogg's lead."

Jacobson's nutrition advocacy group, along with two Massachusetts parents and the Boston-based Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood, had served notice in January 2006 of intent to sue Kellogg and the Nickelodeon cable TV network under a Massachusetts law to stop them from marketing junk food to kids.

Center spokesman Jeff Cronin said Kellogg contacted the plaintiffs shortly thereafter and began negotiating the new standards, so the lawsuit was not filed and will not be filed.

"We are pleased to work collaboratively with industry and advocacy groups to unveil these standards," said David Mackay, Kellogg's CEO. "We feel the Kellogg Nutrient Criteria set a new standard for responsibility in the industry."

With 2006 sales of almost $11 billion, Kellogg is not only the No. 1 cereal-maker but also a leading producer of snack foods. Its brands include Kellogg's, Keebler, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Rice Krispies and Famous Amos.

Globally, 50 percent of the products Kellogg markets to children do not meet the criteria, said Mark Baynes, Kellogg's chief marketing officer. A third of the cereals it markets to children in the U.S. fall outside standards.

Pop-Tarts and Froot Loops don't meet the criteria, though most cereals fall inside the calorie guideline, Baynes said. Meeting the sugar and sodium standards could be the most challenging.

Kellogg also announced that it will continue to refrain from advertising to children under age 6, and will not in the future:

_Advertise to children any foods in schools and preschools that include kids under age 12.

_Sponsor placement of any of its products in any medium primarily directed at kids under age 12.

_Use branded toys connected to any foods that do not meet the nutrition standards.

_Use licensed characters on mass-media ads directed primarily to kids under 12 or on the front labels of food packages unless they meet the standards.

The advertising agreement does not apply to marketing characters Kellogg owns, like Tony the Tiger, but it does apply to characters the food company licenses, like the cartoon figure Shrek, said Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood.

She said Kellogg was the first food company to agree to restrict advertising using licensed media characters like Shrek.

"These characters play an incredibly important role in children's lives. Kids see them every day; they have toys of them," Linn said. "The media characters are much more powerful (than company-owned characters like Tony the Tiger). The food companies want to keep using them because they sell a lot of food; kids really respond to them."

Earlier this month, a Federal Trade Commission study found that half the ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are on children's programs, double the percentage 30 years ago. Children between ages 2 and 11 saw approximately 5,500 food ads on television in 2004, half of them on kids' shows with audiences of 50 percent children or greater.

American companies spend about $15 billion a year marketing and advertising to children under age 12, the Institute of Medicine said last year when it warned that one-third of American children are obese or at risk for becoming obese.

In response, Kellogg and McDonald's Corp. joined eight other major food and drink companies last November in an industry-sponsored pledge to promote more healthy foods and exercise in their child-oriented advertising. A year earlier, Kraft Foods Inc. had promised to curb ads to young children for snack foods, including Oreos and Kool-Aid.

___

Associated Press writer Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

[Steel2Velvet]

I can visualize a day when a guy in a black trench coat waits on a street corner near a school, emerging from the 3:30 shadows as a group of youngsters approach, furtively looking around and whispering while opening one panel of his coat, "Psst, kid! You want some Oreos?"

[RonJonSurfer]

You kiddin' me...I just cornered the local pop- tart market....my guys are looking to hijack a delivery of Frosted Flakes at the port..."They're Greaaaat!"

[edna]

I grew up eating cornflakes and frosties and I was a stick...

[Blue Fish]

I always eat at least three bowls of Kellogg's in the morning.... so that explains it then....

[miamisammy29]

Don't let them fool you. This is only a media ploy to get parents to buy Kellogg's instead of the other brands. They're not gonna change a thing. The criteria listed in Ron's original post does not even come close to the nutritional information already listed on the box, except maybe for Pop-Tarts.

The serving size of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes contains 110 calories (150 with skim milk), 0% fat and/or saturated fat, and 11 grams of sugar.

And all Frosted Flakes consist of is corn, sugar...and...malted something or other. Granted, it is very high in carbohydrates (which can definitely make a kid tank out), but, not coincidentally, their criteria did not mention total carbohydrates.

It's what we in the industry like to call "corporate bullsh*t" or "proactive marketing".

Hell, I love Frosted Flakes. They really are grrrreat. But, then again, I was a fan of Joe Camel.

But lemme tell you....nine times out of ten, when a company throws themselves to the media wolves like Kellogg's just did, it's usually because they are struggling financially, because they are about to be sued, or because they are absolute greedy pr*cks and want the entire share of the market for themselves. Not only that, they'll probably jack up the price and say it's "all natural". Yeah, my d*ck is all natural!

In conclusion, I guess what I'm trying to say is, keep eating the same damn cereals you've been eating. I even recommend the cheaper store brands. They're all the same. The only difference in cereals is which particular Disney movie they happen to be whoring for this month.

Well, I've said my piece. I'm gonna go have a whole box of chocolate frosted Pop-Tarts. See y'all later.

:happybanana: :happybanana:

[RonJonSurfer]

We've found Sammy's true passion....

[RonJonSurfer]

Here's more corporate BS:

Gas Prices Expected to Rise at Pump

By John Wilen, AP Business Writer

Gas Prices Expected to Rise at Pump As Futures Rally Continues on This Week's Inventory Report

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gasoline futures extended their rally Friday, raising the prospect that prices at the pump will reverse course and again head higher in the coming weeks. Oil futures moved above $68 a barrel.

Retail gasoline prices, which typically lag the futures market, fell again by 1.4 cents overnight to a national average price of $3.029 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices peaked at $3.227 a gallon on May 24.

"Unfortunately, I think this is about as good as it gets," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

That's because gasoline futures have risen sharply in the wake of a government report on Wednesday that shocked traders by showing gasoline inventories remained flat as refineries used less of their capacity than they had the week before.

Also boosting prices on Friday was a lower-than-expected core inflation figure, which encouraged investors to move money from fixed income investments to commodities.

Gasoline for July jumped 4.42 cents to $2.2689 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Light, sweet crude rose 52 cents to $68.17 a barrel in midday trading. Brent crude for August delivery rose 29 cents to $74.12 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.

Also on the Nymex, heating oil futures rose less than a penny to $2.02 a gallon while natural gas prices added 17.1 cents to $7.979 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Analysts said traders continued to react to Wednesday's report by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.

"The report we got this week ... that was just incredibly disappointing and extremely bullish," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group, in Tampa, Fla.

The report showed that refinery utilization, which had been expected to grow by 0.8 percent, fell 0.4 percent to 89.2 percent, the second straight weekly decline, in the week ended June 8. Most analysts say refineries should be using 94 percent to 95 percent of their capacity at this time of year.

The report also showed gasoline inventories unchanged at 201.5 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected inventories to rise by 2 million barrels.

The report killed any sentiment that the domestic refining industry, beset by an unusual number of outages this spring, has recovered. Analysts have warned for months that the industry is not producing enough gasoline to meet summer driving demand, which typically peaks between the July 4 and Labor Day holidays.

"The thing about those numbers is everybody knew that they (were) going to be struggling to keep up with gasoline demand as it was ... but they didn't seem to make any progress refining-wise," said Tobin Gorey, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

On Friday there were new reports that Corpus Christi, Texas, refineries owned by Valero Energy Corp. and Flint Hills Resources were temporarily shutting down equipment for maintenance.

"We needed some big builds (in gas inventories)," said Cordier. "We got one or two big builds, then this figure just threw cold water on it."

The report attracted hedge funds and technical buying, analysts said, further adding to the price increases. Before Thursday, crude oil had not settled above $67 a barrel since September.

"We're going to probably rally until we see another figure next week," Cordier said.

However, Kloza doubts the rally will continue much longer. He thinks futures will trade in a defined range of a few dollars for oil, and 10 to 20 cents for gasoline, rather than breaking out to new highs.

"I do not believe this is the beginning of another tremendous bounce," Kloza said.

Retail gas will follow suit, he said: It won't fall any further, but it also won't jump back to late May's records.

Cordier said energy futures prices are also being supported by Friday's core inflation figure, which a government report said rose a lower-than-expected 0.1 percent. That dampened sentiment the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Investors flee equity and commodities markets for fixed income investments when interest rates are believed to be on their way up, Cordier explained. When investors think rates will hold steady or fall, they're more likely to invest in commodities, he said.

"It relieves downward pressure on commodities," Cordier said. "The core figure on inflation today kind of took the cap off the market."

Associated Press Writers Pablo Gorondi, in Budapest, and Gillian Wong, in Singapore, contributed to this report.

[miamisammy29]

Here's more corporate BS:

Gas Prices Expected to Rise at Pump

Oil futures moved above $68 a barrel.

F***in' Kellogg's!

[Steel2Velvet]

... my guys are looking to hijack a delivery of Frosted Flakes at the port..."They're Greaaaat!"

I made the same mistake once, RJ. The actually Tony quote is correctly written "They're Grrrrrreat!"

Problem is, in that spelling format it could appear as though he's saying, " Grrrrrr - eat" which is a little Madison Avenue mindgame in itself. Perhaps would be better written phonetically, "They're Grrrrrrate!" But then teachers would complain of suggesting errant spelling to kids.

I'll return you now to your regularly scheduled program. Carry on.

[Floydaholic]

I think it's mad how much parents have to think about things like these for their kids. So I have respect for parents who can do it, I have no idea how I could survive with all that sort of thing when I have kids.

[Jenny]

It's harder now because most families have both parents working, including mine, so home cooked meals aren't as prevalent. You rely on pre-packaged food, fast food, etc.

I am by no means a health nut, but I do try to keep my three year old away from the junk food. I know that once she starts school, it will be harder to keep her from the bad stuff, but now that I can control it, I try to. I haven't let her drink soda and she eats non-sugary cereal. She actually doesn't eat french fries, so when we do get fast food, she gets whatever fruit you can substitute for fries.

Still, you have to let a kid be a kid. She gets her share of cookies, and since it's summer...ice cream. Her favorite candy is M&M's

[Rayzor]

I used to eat a box of cereal before school every day (2 boxes on Saturdays while watching cartoons) and I'm thin, so this whole thread is b#llsh*t!

[Super Ry 71]

I used to eat a box of cereal before school every day (2 boxes on Saturdays while watching cartoons) and I'm thin, so this whole thread is b#llsh*t!

You wanna call Penn & Teller, or do I have to?