The Food and Drug Administration is scolding the makers of Cheerios for the way they promote their cereal’s health benefits.br /br /a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sgx0zF9FezI/AAAAAAAAADQ/XhC9–DCYnY/s1600-h/cheerios.gif”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 122px; height: 160px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sgx0zF9FezI/AAAAAAAAADQ/XhC9–DCYnY/s320/cheerios.gif” border=”0″ alt=”"id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335768079647734578″ //aThe FDA sent General Mills a letter stating the company is in “serious violation” of federal rules by claiming that Cheerios can lower cholesterol within a certain amount of time, while providing cancer-fighting and heart-healthy benefits. The FDA wrote, “Based on claims made on your product’s label, we have determined that your Cheerios® Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.” No drug in the United States can be legally marketed without an approved new drug application.br /br /”We certainly don’t have any issues with the safety of Cheerios,” said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “We just believe that the labeling on this particular product has gone beyond what the science supports.” br /br /The FDA started its Cheerios review after the National Consumers League, a Washington-based advocacy group, complained in a September letter that the cereal’s health claims made it out to be a drug.br /br /In a statement issued Tuesday, General Mills said this dispute is over language, not science. The company statement said that Cheerios’ soluble fiber heart health claim has been FDA-approved for 12 years, and that its “lower your cholesterol four percent in six weeks” message has been featured on the box for more than two years.br /br /strongDr. Grout’s Comment:/strongbr /br /Is corporate America overreaching, or the FDA? We remember when the FDA cited cherry farmers for touting the health benefits of cherries. But before people start in on the pharmaceutical industry’s influence at the FDA, read a bit more of the FDA’s letter to General Mills: “The claim on your Web site leaves out any reference to fruits, vegetables, and fiber content. Therefore, your claim does not convey that all these factors together help to reduce the risk of heart disease and does not enable the public to understand the significance of the claim in the context of the total daily diet.”br /br /That said, let’s forget the “heart healthy” claims for a moment and look inside a box of Cheerios. One cup is about 22 grams of processed carbohydrate – not my idea of a nutritious breakfast. Refined carbohydrates act like a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/sugar.html”sugar/a in the body and spike blood sugar levels, causing appetite swings and food cravings. Many a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/childhood_obesity.html”obesity/a patients are turning away from refined carbs for better insulin regulation and weight control. This cereal is also made from wheat containing a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/gluten_free.html”gluten/a which more and more people cannot tolerate. This cereal also contains corn starch and modified corn starch. Increasingly, the corn used in processed foods is a a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/genetically_modified_foods.html”genetically modified food/a.br /br /a href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sgx1gsYMRkI/AAAAAAAAADY/3gstgMxJ23M/s1600-h/miniwheats.gif”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 96px; height: 132px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CpmH6pmUk9A/Sgx1gsYMRkI/AAAAAAAAADY/3gstgMxJ23M/s320/miniwheats.gif” border=”0″ alt=”"id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335768863056086594″ //aKellogg’s box for Frosted Mini-Wheats also fell under government scrutiny. Last month, Kellogg settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it falsely advertised the cereal to improve children’s attentiveness. The FTC said the clinical study Kellogg cited found that only half the children who ate the cereal showed any improvement in their attentiveness.br /br /The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a statement calling for Kellogg’s to phase out the use of some synthetic food dyes found in some varieties of Mini-Wheats. It says the dyes exacerbate some children’s hyperactivity and behavioral problems and should not be in foods marketed to children. The a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/kid_food.html#study”Southampton Study/a and the work of the Feingold Association support removal of dyes. Reams of studies tell us to stay away from processed foods because they feed the body’s silent a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/inflammation.html”inflammation/a which sets the stage for so much chronic disease.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4769404502414351890-9047780047628124346?l=arizonaadvancedmedicine.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div