Kraft, General Mills, Dole, & Others Ripping Off

Tag : Solid Fiber
Kraft, General Mills, Dole, & Others Ripping Off Consumers withBogus Immunity Claims

CSPI Urges Feds to Crack Down on Food Frauds

Krafts Crystal Light Immunity Berry Pomegranate drink falsely claims that its vitamins A, C, and E will helpmaintain a healthy immune system, charges the Center for Sciencein the Public Interest. The nonprofit nutrition and food safetywatchdog group today urged the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on that and otherdeceptive structure/function claims increasingly appearing onfood labels.
When companies claim their products will maintain a healthy immunesystem, consumers believe this means those products will help wardoff disease. But while vitamins A, C, and E are important for thefunctioning of just about every system in the human body, thereslittle evidence to suggest that drinking Crystal Light will haveany impact on the average persons immune system.
Consider vitamin A. There is no consistent evidence thatsupplementing with A is beneficial for the immune function ofadults, and it might even worsen respiratory illnesses amongchildren, according to researchers at the Harvard School of PublicHealth. And the Crystal Light drink has only 500 IUjust a small fraction of what one would findin a typical multivitamin. (In fact, says CSPI, theres not muchberry or pomegranate in this drink either; less than 2 percent ofit is unspecified natural flavor, and the rest is water,artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and food dyes.)
Another Kraft product, Fruit2O Immunity Nutrient Enhanced Water Beverage , also bears a bogus help maintain a healthy immune system claim.(Its Berry Pomegranate flavor is just as bereft of berries andpomegranates as Crystal Light as well.) Food manufacturers knowthat they can get away with this kind of consumer deception becausethe Bush FDA is letting the industry play by many of the sameloosely-goosey rules followed by dietary supplement manufacturers,says CSPI legal affairs director Bruce Silverglade. The result isthat the deception that is commonplace on dietary supplement labelshas now spread to the much larger food industry.
Even some foods that are perfectly healthy in their own rightbagsof frozen fruit or vegetablesbear silly label claims toutingmagical immunity-boosting properties. For instance, Green Giant Immunity Boost , a General Mills product, consists of frozen broccoli, carrots,pepper strips, and seasoning. While its a perfectly healthfulfood, there is no evidence to support the claim that the productsupports a healthy immune system, or provides the promisedimmunity boost. In an informal survey of 1,000 health-orientedconsumers conducted by CSPI, 49 percent thought this product wouldhelp prevent colds and the flu.

The makers of Green Giant claim this product boosts immunity butwith no scientific evidence to prove it. Photo credit: Wendi Hausfeld.
Doles Wildly Nutritious Tropical Fruit frozen sliced pineapple, mango, kiwi fruit, papaya, andstrawberriesis another decent food. But the marketing copy on thelabel makes it sound like nothing short of a medical miracle, whosevitamins variously maintain, support, or even enhance white bloodcell function and the cells lining the airway, urinary, anddigestive tracts, and can protect the body against viruses andbacteria.
Sometimes a pineapple is just a pineapple, said CSPI seniornutritionist David Schardt. Consumers should eat their fruits andvegetables, by all means. But save your money by watching out forweasel words like support, maintain, or enhance, which oftenimply that a specific brand name food can prevent disease.
Express disease prevention claims on food labels must be approvedby the FDA prior to marketing. But food companies do not need theFDAs permission to claim that various nutrients allegedly play inthe normal structure or functioning of the body. Thus, while themakers of Welchs Fiber 100% Grape Juice may not claim that that productwith its added fibercures chronicconstipation or relieves irritable bowel syndrome, they can statethat it support[s] a healthy digestive system. But in this case,the fiber comes from maltodextrin, not fruit, and theres noevidence that the amount of maltodextrin in the grape juice has anyeffect on digestion.
In a formal complaint filed today with the FDA, CSPI says theagency should stop the bogus claims and set new rules for foodcompanies requiring them to base future claims on solid scientificevidence and make only FDA-approved claims. CSPIs complaint to theFDA also criticized claims that products supposedly help nourishyour brain ( Minute Maid Enhanced Juice Blend Omega-3 DHA Pomegranate BlueberryFlavored Blend of 5 Juices ), keep your digestive system healthy ( Sunsweet PlumSmart for Digestive Health Plum Juice Extra with Fiber ), and protect cartilage and joints ( Minute Maid Enhanced Juice Active 750 mg Glucosamine HCL ).
Several prominent researchers with expertise in nutrition andimmunity, David C. Nieman, John D. Potter, and Neli Ulrich, alsotoday urged FDA to suspend its approval of immunity-relatedstructure/function claims on food labels.
Many, if not most, consumers associate the immune system withprotection from disease, the researchers wrote. There is littleor no evidence that these products can provide that protection.