Froot Loops - Healthy Fakes

Froot Loops-healthy fakes that received the bright green check mark showing the endorsement of the Smart Choices program, may have received its check mark on shaky ground. The Smart Choices program may have a special reason for making Froot Loops one of its choices. While the board of the Smart Choice program insists that the reason was the fiber, vitamin A and C in the cereal, when asked about the high sugar content, they simply remarked that it was better for your children than some other breakfast choices were. The explanation for the decision came from the president of the Smart Choice program, Dr. Ethel Kennedy.

"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."

Using that same logic, a number of "unhealthy foods" surpass the health benefits of a donut. However, no one extends their standards to consider these foods a "smart choice." The funding of the Smart Choice program might give valuable information on how products receive their attractive green check mark.

The companies participating with the Smart Choice program pay as much as $100,000 every year. If their product bears the green check mark, the fee increases or decreases according to the sale of the product. Since not all companies participate, you'll not see a green Smart Choice check on some extremely healthy foods. At present, there are only ten companies involved in the program. These companies include Kraft foods, Unilever, General Mills, Tyson, PepsiCo, ConAgra Foods and of course, Kellogg's.

Even though there were representatives for advocacy groups on the panel to set the nutritional criteria to receive the Smart Choice endorsement, many found that most of the panel came from the food industry and because of that, skewed the results with their domination of numbers. Michael Jacobson, one of the representatives from a health advocacy group, Center for Science in Public Interest, quit for that very reason.

Aside from the fiber and the addition of vitamins and minerals to the cereal, what does Froot Loops contain? They have numerous chemicals to give the cereal its artificial color and flavor, added sugar, more than most cookies and very little else except the potential for faulty packaging. When you read the ingredients on the back of the package, they are placed with the first ingredient being the highest the food contains by weight. That's sugar and it gives the product 44 percent of the calories it contains.

The question now becomes, should you simply give your child a vitamin supplement, feed him oatmeal and fruit and avoid the urge to give him sugary foods such as Froot Loops, which have high concentrations of food dyes with the potential of causing hyperactivity among other things. Besides the high sugar content, recently there was a problem with the packaging. To Kellogg's credit, they recalled it as soon as they found the problem. There was a higher concentration of chemicals in the liner. These chemicals release when it's heated to seal the package. While it isn't normally a problem, the higher concentration chemicals created stomach problems and vomiting because the cereal absorbed the gas. There is no FDA study on the effect of the packaging materials over a long period.

While Froot Loops may be better for you than a donut, are they really deserving of the Smart Choice green check mark? They contain enough chemicals to start a science lab and only have nutrients because of supplementation. A far better start for your child's day would be hot oatmeal and fresh fruit instead of Froot Loops-healthy fakes.