{"id":2606,"date":"2009-09-06T05:13:49","date_gmt":"2009-09-06T03:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=2606"},"modified":"2015-02-15T00:33:58","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T05:33:58","slug":"dumb-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/dumb-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Dumb Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, I blogged about the new “Smart Choices” labelling system<\/a> instituted by the food industry to “…help Americans make smarter nutrition choices and improve public health.”\u00a0 It looked ok – in theory –\u00a0but I couldn’t help noting…<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be interesting to see how this plays out\u2026the criteria used for the labelling looks sound enough, but the devil is always in the details.\u00a0 The list of participating companies is practically a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d of mega-junk food manufacturers\/marketers, after all\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Uh-huh.\u00a0 The system is now in place and the New York Times has the details…<\/a><\/p>\n

A new food-labeling campaign called Smart Choices, backed by most of the nation\u2019s largest food manufacturers, is \u201cdesigned to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The green checkmark label that is starting to show up on store shelves will appear on hundreds of packages, including \u2014 to the surprise of many nutritionists \u2014 sugar-laden cereals like Cocoa Krispies and Froot Loops.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are horrible choices,\u201d said Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health.<\/p>\n

He said the criteria used by the Smart Choices Program were seriously flawed, allowing less healthy products, like sweet cereals and heavily salted packaged meals, to win its seal of approval. \u201cIt\u2019s a blatant failure of this system and it makes it, I\u2019m afraid, not credible,\u201d Mr. Willett said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No kidding…<\/p>\n

…Dr. Kennedy, who is not paid for her work on the program, defended the products endorsed by the program, including sweet cereals. She said Froot Loops was better than other things parents could choose for their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re rushing around, you\u2019re trying to think about healthy eating for your kids and you have a choice between a doughnut and a cereal,\u201d Dr. Kennedy said, evoking a hypothetical parent in the supermarket. \u201cSo Froot Loops is a better choice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A parent in a supermarket has MANY choices, so “doughnuts vs. Froot Loops” is a false dichotomy. Dr. Kennedy is being disingenuous here, to say the least.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Makes you wonder why they even bothered… looks like the whole thing is simply a sham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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