City Attorney Demands Proof of Cocoa Krispies' Immunity-Boosting Claim

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Now Kellogg's is dealing with more false advertising claims, this time from San Francisco City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, who just announced that he has written a letter to the CEO of the cereal company demanding evidence that Cocoa Krispies really "helps support your child's immunity" as it purports to do on the front of the box.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...loggs_coco.php

Okay, Kellogg's was stretching, but to equate 'boosts immunity' with being a substitute for a flu shot is at least as bad an exaggeration. If Kellogg's label had said 'fortified with immunity-boosting vitamins,' I think they would have been on firmer ground, as far as truthiness goes.

[DawnStorm]

I saw that large banner-like sign on a box of Rice Krispies a few weeks ago and went Is there anybody out there that would actually believe such a claim? On a box of cereal?

[snopes]

Well, if you were starving, your immune system would be compromised, right? So eating pretty much anything with any nutritive value should "boost" your immune system, shouldn't it?

[DawnStorm]

This is true.

[snopes]

Kellogg, the nation's largest cereal maker, is being called to task by critics who object to the swine flu-conscious claim now bannered in bold lettering on the front of Cocoa Krispies cereal boxes: "Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY."

Of all claims on cereal boxes, "this one belongs in the hall of fame," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...ty-claim_N.htm

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Originally Posted by snopes

Of all claims on cereal boxes, "this one belongs in the hall of fame," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity."

The difference being that kids will eat Cocoa Krispies, but not a pile of leaves.