Jun 14, 2007 7:03 pm US/Eastern
Kellogg To Raise Nutritional Value Of Kids' Food
Saturday Morning Cartoons Will Never Be The Same
By Alexis Christoforous, CBS 2 News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Kellogg Co. said it would reformulate products to meet new nutritional criteria or stop marketing them to kids under 12 by 2008. (File)
AP
Say goodbye to some super sweet breakfast cereals.
Kellogg Co. has agreed to raise the nutritional value of cereals and snacks it markets to children.
Television ads for sugary cereals are seen by millions of kids every day, and that has mothers like Holly Zin fuming.
"You know if you go to the store everything has a cartoon character on it every snack, every cereal and that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Zin said.
But that's about to change.
In the face of a lawsuit, Kellogg has promised to make its cereals -- like Cocoa Krispies, Honey Smacks and Fruit Loops -- healthier or they will stop advertising to kids under 12. The Center for Science in the Public Interest blames the commercials, in part, for the dramatic rise in childhood obesity.
"Companies know marketing affects what children choose to eat, or else they wouldn't spend $10 billion a year on it," said Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"Most of the cereals that Kellogg's makes is more like candy than a healthy breakfast."
Kellogg said it won't run ads unless the product has no trans fat, and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat, 200 calories, 230 milligrams of sodium and 12 grams of sugar.
"Something like 50 percent of our products around the world don't meet this criteria," said Mark Baynes, Kellogg's Chief Marketing Officer. "So the company has taken on a huge commitment to either reformulate or retarget its brands."
Kellogg has also promised to stop using cartoon characters to market sugary foods to young children. That means no more Shrek or SpongeBob Square Pants on the boxes or in the commercials.
"Hopefully other manufacturers and food producers will do the same thing," said mother Laura Neil.
The group said while it's parents' responsibility to make sure their kids eat well, it shouldn't be so hard to feed them a healthy diet.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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