Video: FDA declares Cheerios a drug?

posted at 2:55 pm on June 19, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

The war on drugs has opened a new front: the breakfast table. The FDA, under orders to tighten enforcement on health-related claims for food products, informed General Mills that their promotion of Cheerios transforms it from a food to a drug when they claim the oat-based cereal can help lower cholesterol:

President Obama isn’t just rewriting rules regulating the environment and the financial markets — he is also going after the food industry.

Target and example No. 1: Cheerios.

“Based on claims made on your product’s label,” the FDA said in a letter to manufacturer General Mills, “we have determined (Cheerios) 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.”

If the government’s enforcement action against Cheerios were to hold up, the cereal would be pulled from grocery shelves and consumers would need a prescription to buy a box of those little oats.

That’s unlikely, but experts say the message is clear: There is a new sheriff in town and when it comes to false, misleading and exaggerated labeling, you had better clean up your act.

This is simply silly. Congress just gave the FDA authority over tobacco, and their first target is Cheerios? I can understand an effort to get General Mills to disclose that they funded the studies that reached the conclusions they advertise, but threatening to categorize Cheerios as a drug is about as good a parody of overreaching regulation as anything we could gin up in the blogosphere.

Barack Obama liked to remind us that we’re in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, although he’s ixnayed the Epression-day talk lately, since his policies seem to be making things worse. Maybe we can focus our attention and our resources on helping companies expand and employ people other than defense lawyers.

Update: Michelle was talking about cereal czars last month.  Fox just got around to it, apparently.

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I love Cheerios and sometimes buy 2-3 boxes at a time.
Do you think they might come after me now on suspicion of distribution?

exceller on June 19, 2009 at 4:28 PM

Cheerios pusher?

jimmy2shoes on June 19, 2009 at 4:30 PM

Pssst! you looking to buy a dime bag of O’s?
I got the good stuff, none of that generic brand crap.

exceller on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

Ed, this is disingenuous criticism. The FDA isn’t calling it a drug because they think it’s a drug, they’re doing it because General Mills is saying it does something that a drug does.

Does it make sense to you that a Drug Company A is not allowed to claim that its pill cures cancer (which it shouldn’t be allowed to do) but that Non-Drug Company B is allowed to claim that its cereal does?

Using the title “FDA declares Cheerios a drug?” completely ignores the actual issue here, as does the rest of your post.

tneloms on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

*****BREAKING NEWS********

AP reports violent Mexican oat gang in desperate gun battle with security guards at General Mills Headquarters in Minneapolis. Some oat experts believe they are trying to capture the illegal oat market in the US by taking out the leadership of GM before the Russian or Chinese organized crime bosses make their move.

Updates to follow.

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 4:33 PM

Fruit Loops on the other hand is very Democrat.

Jeff from WI on June 19, 2009 at 3:56 PM

Ban you MF.

RushBaby on June 19, 2009 at 4:34 PM

Whoa – Hold the fricken phone.
. : . . Let’s play connect the dots
General Mills owns Olive Garden

sannhet on June 19, 2009 at 4:36 PM

Ed, this is disingenuous criticism. The FDA isn’t calling it a drug because they think it’s a drug, they’re doing it because General Mills is saying it does something that a drug does.

Does it make sense to you that a Drug Company A is not allowed to claim that its pill cures cancer (which it shouldn’t be allowed to do) but that Non-Drug Company B is allowed to claim that its cereal does?

Using the title “FDA declares Cheerios a drug?” completely ignores the actual issue here, as does the rest of your post.

tneloms on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

Ibuprofen makes sore muscles feel better. So does taking a warm bath and/or a massage.

If I tell a friend to take a warm bath “because it will make your muscles feel better”, have I dispensed a drug or practiced medicine?

Using your logic I have. Only because the FDA has approved a drug that “soothes muscle pain” and is prescribed by doctors. The warm bath does the same thing as ibuprofen, so warm baths must be a drug, right?

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 4:38 PM

Tough talk for Cheerios…Thuggery in Iran, not so much.

brennan251 on June 19, 2009 at 4:38 PM

The FDA isn’t calling it a drug because they think it’s a drug,

I think the entire FDA is on drugs.

jimmy2shoes on June 19, 2009 at 4:38 PM

Oats as an hallucinogen would explain those pink ponies with wings.

tomg51 on June 19, 2009 at 4:39 PM

Oats as an hallucinogen would explain those pink ponies with wings.

tomg51 on June 19, 2009 at 4:39 PM

No, that’s the whiskey talkin’.

jimmy2shoes on June 19, 2009 at 4:40 PM

Why is Fox recycling stories from 3 months ago?

DaveS on June 19, 2009 at 4:41 PM

No, that’s the whiskey talkin’.

jimmy2shoes on June 19, 2009 at 4:40 PM

I’m listening.

tomg51 on June 19, 2009 at 4:43 PM

tneloms on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

Somthing does not have to be a drug to be healthy. If you eat cheerios instead of steak your cholesterol will drop. Should the fda pronounce apples a drug also? or maybe bananas?

The point is that cheerios makes a valid claim, but they are not a drug and cannot be regulated like they are.

Could the Obama adminastration be going after General Mills like they did General Motors?

allrsn on June 19, 2009 at 4:45 PM

*administration sorry

allrsn on June 19, 2009 at 4:47 PM

Corn Pops.

Every fkn morning.

/allimsayin’

bluelightbrigade on June 19, 2009 at 4:47 PM

Soon the FDA will be putting the vitamin and supplement industry out of business because they make some of the same claims and more in their advertising.

I would like to see some truth in advertising politics before I see anything in cereals.

belad on June 19, 2009 at 4:49 PM

Hi.

I’m SilverStar830.

…and I’m a Milkoholic.

SilverStar830 on June 19, 2009 at 4:50 PM

Using the title “FDA declares Cheerios a drug?” completely ignores the actual issue here, as does the rest of your post.

tneloms on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

How many companies get away with this is by selling their product (e.g., vitamins, male enhancement, etc.) not as a drug but as a nutritional supplement, etc. Therefore they are required to place disclaimers in the advertising to the effect of this product is not intended to treat or cure any disease and the claims made have not been tested by the FDA as we’ve all seen at the bottom of our TV whenever those annoying commercials come on.

What GM does is nothing different from what all these other vitamin, male enhancement peddlers do so why is the FDA going after them to the point where they are threatening to classify Cheerios as a drug, sorry but what the gov is doing is absurd and given all that is happening here at home with the economy in the toilet and the turmoil around the world our gov should be focused on other more important matters…smart power indeed!

Liberty or Death on June 19, 2009 at 4:50 PM

Vitamin industry is next. Not going to be pretty for those who care about their health.

As far as cherrios go, I have often wondered how they got away with this claim.

jsunrise on June 19, 2009 at 4:51 PM

Oats as an hallucinogen would explain those pink ponies with wings.

tomg51 on June 19, 2009 at 4:39 PM

Heh, or why anyone would have been idiotic enough to vote for THE ONE!

Liberty or Death on June 19, 2009 at 4:52 PM

Listen up:

“Not eating will reduce your cholesterol.”

There. Now I’ve done it. Practicing medicine without a license.

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 4:54 PM

I’m a Milkoholic.

SilverStar830 on June 19, 2009 at

Good job! You’ve made the first step to ending your addiction to illegal drugs.

Loxodonta on June 19, 2009 at 4:54 PM

tneloms on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

I have to say I agree with you. I had a friend long ago with an anti-inflammatory toothpaste. Some of the best post-surgical uses you ever saw, plus great for people with post-radiation mucositis. Mainly it did a great job on your teeth, though. And while he was running around looking for funding, and notwithstanding the advice of his very good FDA-law attorneys, he kept making health rather than cosmetic claims for the product.

Got slapped with an IND claim on the protest of a dentifrice manufacturer and his product never came to market. This was years and years ago. This is not really new.

DrSteve on June 19, 2009 at 4:54 PM

If this subject is not fodder for a Jim Treacher comment, nothing is. Wow, does this mean that anything made from oats is now considered a drug. I wondered why I loved those oatmeal cookies so much. Who knew I was a drug addict since the age of five. I am feeling a little oat withdrawel right now. I need a fix. Excuse me while I run to the store and get a quick fix and stock up on my oat based products before the prices go up. Bye, bye.

Americannodash on June 19, 2009 at 4:55 PM

“How many companies get away with this is by selling their product (e.g., vitamins, male enhancement, etc.) not as a drug but as a nutritional supplement, etc.”

If a vitamin company made this claim they would of been in trouble right away. Plus one needs to keep in mind that lipid lowering drugs are the number one profit makers for drug companys, they will not tolerate competition.

jsunrise on June 19, 2009 at 4:55 PM

I guess my days of main lining Cheerios are over.

I guess I switch over to Grape Nuts.

csdeven on June 19, 2009 at 4:56 PM

Does this mean the FDA is now a Cereal Killer?

coyoterex on June 19, 2009 at 4:56 PM

So, water, which nutritionists recommend we drink every day to, you know, stay alive, should now come with a prescription?

I mean, water helps to maintain cell structure. Water cleanses. We rehydrates.

Do I need a prescription for that?

And I don’t think Cheerios should be considered a drug unless taken like a suppository, which I do.

madmonkphotog on June 19, 2009 at 4:57 PM

I’ll just go to Canada to buy my Cheerios – where they’ll be cheaper because of the government subsidies!!

wildweasel on June 19, 2009 at 4:57 PM

Let’s face it: liberals like that POS in the White House are nuts. That’s how we wind up with Cheerios being considered a drug. Note, too, that most who follow this line favor legalizing pot and cocaine while also wanting to ban tobacco.

Picture libs as rubber balls. They either favor or seek to deny others according to whatever they bounce against, even when they’re sober and not driving women in cars off bridges.

What’s next in the ‘Cheerios Debate’? Ban milk because it’s an enabler? No, wait! We’ll need a gubment permit to buy milk like we need one for a firearm.

Politicians need to be voted out, but bureaucrats need to be fired en masse. I won’t say how here, but in my view by any means necessary depending on how entrenched they are. Bureaucrats are the real problem, not the politicians. After all, Congress doesn’t write the bills it presents to itself. The Congressional staffers do. Those are the people to hit. Pelosi (Satan curse her soul much as God might) didn’t push this, but rather some self-righteous do-gooder in the FDA–a bureaucrat.

Those are the people to remove from ‘service’ to America.

Liam on June 19, 2009 at 4:58 PM

Next thing you know, only cancer patients will be allowed to buy poppy-seed bagels!!

wildweasel on June 19, 2009 at 4:58 PM

The argument to abolish the FDA practically writes itself with these instances. Plus the fact that they won’t stop anything that is actually harmful.

The Dean on June 19, 2009 at 4:59 PM

Will toothpaste also be classified as a drug because it prevents cavities?

justincase on June 19, 2009 at 5:03 PM

Maybe protein should be classified as a drug because it can aid in the control of hyperglycemia…

justincase on June 19, 2009 at 5:03 PM

If a vitamin company made this claim they would of been in trouble right away. Plus one needs to keep in mind that lipid lowering drugs are the number one profit makers for drug companys, they will not tolerate competition.

jsunrise on June 19, 2009 at 4:55 PM

Wouldn’t it be rather silly if General Mills has to declare Cheerios a “Nutritional Supplement” so they can fit the loophole?

Romeo13 on June 19, 2009 at 5:04 PM

Maybe protein should be classified as a drug because it can aid in the control of hyperglycemia…

justincase on June 19, 2009 at 5:03 PM

Well, the Gov is already getting ready to Regulate the Air…. CO2 you know…

Romeo13 on June 19, 2009 at 5:05 PM

Will toothpaste also be classified as a drug because it prevents cavities?

justincase on June 19, 2009 at 5:03 PM

Um…it is approved by the FDA to prevent cavities. You know, with “Fluoride”?

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 5:06 PM

The war on drugs has opened a new front: the breakfast table. The FDA, under orders to tighten enforcement on health-related claims for food products, informed General Mills that their promotion of Cheerios transforms it from a food to a drug when they claim the oat-based cereal can help lower cholesterol:

This is wrong in 2 ways. It can help is not like our research has found or proven it causes lower cholesterol

The FDA is using a strawman tactic and telling us cheerios is making a claim and it isn’t the claim that is on my box of cheerios.

If Coke claims to be “refreshing” is that a false claim?

For a real science, I wait to have the FDA prove that cheerios is unable to help lower cholesterol. We call that falsifying a claim.

seven on June 19, 2009 at 5:08 PM

Is it my imagination, or is this country getting more ridiculous and embarrassing with each passing day under obamanation?

ErinF on June 19, 2009 at 5:09 PM

If a vitamin company made this claim they would of been in trouble right away. Plus one needs to keep in mind that lipid lowering drugs are the number one profit makers for drug companys, they will not tolerate competition.

jsunrise on June 19, 2009 at 4:55 PM

Certain supplement manufacturers (vitamin companies) do make such claims, which are why they are required by the FDA to place that disclaimer at the bottom of their ads.

And while he was running around looking for funding, and notwithstanding the advice of his very good FDA-law attorneys, he kept making health rather than cosmetic claims for the product.

Got slapped with an IND claim on the protest of a dentifrice manufacturer and his product never came to market. This was years and years ago. This is not really new.

DrSteve on June 19, 2009 at 4:54 PM

That’s the problem right there and is why GM is in hot water with the FDA. And you’re right, this is not really new, many years back a similar thing happened to the makers of Listerine when they claimed their product would prevent gingivitis.

Liberty or Death on June 19, 2009 at 5:10 PM

General Mills is actually getting some priceless free PR here. I’d be willing to bet their sales will increase as a result, even though this has to be a real pain in the a$$. I know I’m more inclined to support their product even more now.

ErinF on June 19, 2009 at 5:15 PM

Show of hands:

Who eats Cheerios only because they lower cholesterol?

Who cares what Cheerios do?

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 5:23 PM

The argument to abolish the FDA practically writes itself with these instances. Plus the fact that they won’t stop anything that is actually harmful.

The Dean on June 19, 2009 at 4:59 PM

I wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The FDA does many good things the average person doesn’t know about.

a capella on June 19, 2009 at 5:25 PM

I only eat Raisin Bran. That’s because I want to be plump and juicy like the raisins.

pedestrian on June 19, 2009 at 5:27 PM

I wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The FDA does many good things the average person doesn’t know about.

a capella on June 19, 2009 at 5:25 PM

Used to. Used to. Not anymore. Wanna bring a drug to market fast (to maximize profit) without years of lab and controlled field tests? Just apply for it. All you have to do is certify that the drug is safe and promise to do tests later, and voila`! FDA approval.

What happens when that drug ends up killing people for reasons that would have been detected in normal test programs? The FDA says “Oops. Sorry ’bout that”.

FDA is nothing more than a paid endorsement actor for the big pharma companies.

It didn’t used to be that way, though.

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 5:38 PM

I can understand an effort to get General Mills to disclose that they funded the studies that reached the conclusions they advertise, but threatening to categorize Cheerios as a drug is about as good a parody of overreaching regulation as anything we could gin up in the blogosphere.

I hate to beg to differ here, but this is hardly a new reg. I’ve wondered for a while whether food producers can get away with claiming that additives in their products have medicinal benefits (the two biggest offenders being cereal and orange juice makers–both of which frequently claim formulations of their products lower heart disease or cancer risk).

There’s a lot about FDA regulation that I am not a fan of, but this kind of stuff is not that. What’s even more offensive to this is the claim that probiotic yogurts can help (mostly) women with gastrointestinal complaints. Not a single study has ever shown it… If you notice, they advertise very carefully to not say “this yogurt prevents diarrhea and bloating” because those are medical claims, and they can’t substantiate it.

Outlander on June 19, 2009 at 5:42 PM

Is it a gateway drug?

GW_SS-Delta on June 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM

Yea! And flies are now a protected species!

Cybergeezer on June 19, 2009 at 5:45 PM

Cheerio’s to become Obamao’s!

JellyToast on June 19, 2009 at 5:49 PM

Using the title “FDA declares Cheerios a drug?” completely ignores the actual issue here, as does the rest of your post.

tneloms on June 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM

Nice to see that Ed and Hot Air has a hall monitor.

Sheesh.

tru2tx on June 19, 2009 at 5:52 PM

Is water now a drug since it claims to lower dehydration?

Multibucket on June 19, 2009 at 5:54 PM

Does Megan have a “tin news ear”?

Spouse of Ensign’s mistress sought help in letter to Fox News…Husband’s account of how wife’s affair with Ensign ‘ruined our lives and careers’ comes to light.

Who cares about “ears” when Megan is concerned, eh?

Geezer on June 19, 2009 at 5:54 PM

I read the FDA’s letter to GM. The FDA singles out two particular claims by GM: (1) that Cheerios can reduce cholesterol by 4% in 6 weeks and (2) that clinical studies show that Cheerios can reduce bad cholesterol by 4% in 6 weeks. The FDA contends that these two claims make Cheerios classifiable as a new drug, because to claim that Cheerios lowers cholesterol is to claim that it mitigates and prevents high cholesterol and coronary heart disease. The FDA holds the view that if a product has a certain effect on X and this in turn has an effect on Y, then to advertise a product as having an effect on X is to advertise it as having an effect on Y, even if the advertisement does not make any claims about Y.

Oddly enough, the FDA does allow claims “associating soluble fiber from whole grain oats with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.” Indeed Cheerios makes such a claim on the lower left side of the box, and the FDA finds that claim to be within the proper guidelines. The FDA’s beef is that the other two claims are made elsewhere on the box, more prominently and with a bigger font. Hence those claims stand apart from the kind of claim permitted by the FDA. Moreover, the FDA takes issue with Cheerios for quantifying its possible reduction of cholesterol, because to say that a product reduces cholesterol to a specified extent is to say that it reduces one’s risk of coronary heart disease to a specified extent.

That’s the FDA’s case in a nutshell. Frankly, it strikes me as convoluted and picayune. The one claim that Cheerios makes in regard to lowering the risk of coronary heart disease is in fact within FDA guidelines. The other claims do not say anything about mitigating or preventing disease; they only claim that Cheerios can lower one’s cholesterol. Note that the FDA doesn’t argue that this claim is false or exaggerated; they only claim that it doesn’t fit FDA guidelines.

Bill Ramey on June 19, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Ed, this is disingenuous criticism. The FDA isn’t calling it a drug because they think it’s a drug, they’re doing it because General Mills is saying it does something that a drug does.

That’s only true if you consider your cholesterol level to be a disease. Which, it isn’t because everyone has a cholesterol level. If prune makers say their product helps you crap better, does that make prunes a drug?

Pablo on June 19, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Hi…
My name is Blacksmith8…
I eat oatmeal…
I really like putting brown sugar on it…

Blacksmith8 on June 19, 2009 at 6:00 PM

If this subject is not fodder for a Jim Treacher comment, nothing is. Wow, does this mean that anything made from oats is now considered a drug. I wondered why I loved those oatmeal cookies so much. Who knew I was a drug addict since the age of five. I am feeling a little oat withdrawel right now. I need a fix. Excuse me while I run to the store and get a quick fix and stock up on my oat based products before the prices go up. Bye, bye.

Americannodash on June 19, 2009 at 4:55 PM

Dude, be sure to get the ones with raisins. You know the ones I mean. ;-)

Blacksmith8 on June 19, 2009 at 6:05 PM

Megaphone<
Put down the Cheerios, back out of the house with your hands in the air.
(Helicopters with search lights on the house)
Megaphone<
We repeat, put down the Cheerios, back out of the house with your hands in the air, place your spoons on the ground.
(More Helicopters join in)
Megaphone<
We traced your coupon, we know you have them, we have cut the water to your house, you cannot flush them down the toilet or the garbage disposal.
(scramble, more squad cars)
Shoot the dog, shoot the dog, he is eating the cereal
Megaphone from behind a squad car<
It is useless, you are surrounded, state your name and come out peacefully…
(from inside the house)
My name is Maria Domingo Sanchez, my husband is at work in the fields, we are hear illegally.
Megaphone<
All right men, pull out nothing hear, false alarm…

right2bright on June 19, 2009 at 6:05 PM

Obama’s worshippers are probably logging all the comments here and are going to proclaim us news journalists and tax us at the highest rate and censor us!
(I’m trying to be funny; Why aren’t you laughing?)

Cybergeezer on June 19, 2009 at 6:06 PM

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 4:38 PM

I hope you have your Malpratice Insurance paid up.

davidk on June 19, 2009 at 6:07 PM

Oops.

davidk on June 19, 2009 at 6:08 PM

Is it my imagination, or is this country getting more ridiculous and embarrassing with each passing day under obamanation?

ErinF on June 19, 2009 at 5:09 PM

It is not your imagination…and we have posters that are argueing that the FDA is correct.
General Mills did a study, the study showed what Cheerios is claiming.
If the FDA has other proof, another study to refute it, bring them forth.
Otherwise, it just gets more ridiculous…and embarrassing, but only to the ones who voted for Obama.

right2bright on June 19, 2009 at 6:11 PM

BobMbx on June 19, 2009 at 4:38 PM

Ibuprofen makes sore muscles feel better. So does taking a warm bath and/or a massage. If I tell a friend to take a warm bath “because it will make your muscles feel better”, have I dispensed a drug or practiced medicine?

Has the person ingested anything under the belief that it will directly cause some beneficial physiological change? No.
allrsn on June 19, 2009 at 4:45 PM

Somthing does not have to be a drug to be healthy. If you eat cheerios instead of steak your cholesterol will drop. Should the fda pronounce apples a drug also? or maybe bananas?

Because it does NOT do something that another food does (ie add cholesterol)? How does that make sense?

Cheerios is claiming that their product LOWERS cholesterol–not that it raises it less, etc., but that their product DIRECTLY reduces cholesterol, as would a drug.

I think the whole thing is silly, but at least make reasonable arguments to support your case.

DaveS on June 19, 2009 at 6:11 PM

false alarm…

right2bright on June 19, 2009 at 6:05 PM

Thread WINNER!!!
Thanks.

Blacksmith8 on June 19, 2009 at 6:17 PM

Smart Government of which we need less.

TexAz on June 19, 2009 at 6:55 PM

I don’t believe it’s controversial that oats decrease the precursor chemical that creates both cholesterol and testosterone. So why the FDA crack-down unless they don’t want food encroaching on the pharmaceutical industry’s prerogatives?

NNtrancer on June 19, 2009 at 6:56 PM

I’m flushing my homemade Oat-Bama’s in case the cops come crashing in and raid me.

whitetop on June 19, 2009 at 7:02 PM

The FDA has been very busy messing with some major food corporations.

I’m wondering if Genreal Mills and Nestles donated to the GOP?….

katy on June 19, 2009 at 7:03 PM

General Mills that is…

katy on June 19, 2009 at 7:04 PM

Well, here we have a case-in-point on why FDA compliance should be voluntary, not mandatory. The worst GM would have to do would be to stop plans for putting an “FDA Approved” label on its boxes.

JSchuler on June 19, 2009 at 7:20 PM

Meghan Kelly — “Why not just snack on a stick of butter?”

I’ve done that!

pugwriter on June 19, 2009 at 7:22 PM

“Based on claims made on your product’s label,” the FDA said in a letter to manufacturer General Mills, “we have determined (Cheerios) 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.”

If the government’s enforcement action against Cheerios were to hold up, the cereal would be pulled from grocery shelves and consumers would need a prescription to buy a box of those little oats.

LET THEM.

*P*L*E*A*S*E*

Wanna know why?!?

Well, based on SOBama’s behavior, words and reports about said Messiah during the campaign,

HE CAN BE CLASIFIED AS A RELIGION.

Time to hold the Leftists to their Core-Mantra of

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

Lockstein13 on June 19, 2009 at 7:26 PM

Ed,
Thanks for the Megyn clip. Love that woman. I love Cheerios too, hope the FDA backs off.

smokinjoe on June 19, 2009 at 7:50 PM

Hi.

I’m SilverStar830.

…and I’m a Milkoholic.

SilverStar830 on June 19, 2009 at 4:50 PM

Newcomer!!!

- The Cat

MirCat on June 19, 2009 at 7:57 PM

Video: FDA declares Cheerios a drug?

Here’s a case in which the use of the question mark doesn’t tease HotAir’s readers with a false claim, but instead weakens the title of the post by raising a question as to what the FDA have done, where there seems to be no question. The FDA are accusing General Mills of marketing a new drug without the FDA’s approval of General Mills’s claims for it. The FDA have previously taken similar action against cherry growers for advertising researchers’ findings about cherries, as reported in articles in scholarly journals.

http://www.google.com/search?q=fda+cherries

The FDA are becoming increasingly dangerous to the Americans’ speech and press freedoms. In these two instances, they’re subjecting to themselves your freedom to listen to or read about claims made in scholarly journals.

Kralizec on June 19, 2009 at 7:57 PM

Is it a gateway drug?

GW_SS-Delta on June 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM

Yes, it all starts with Cheerios and one morning you wake up and find you’re on oatmeal.

johnsteele on June 19, 2009 at 8:00 PM

It all started with cheerios. I couldn’t stop eating them. It was all I could think about. This lead me to Lucky Charms. I began hangin around with the wrong breakfast cereal crowd. Then I became a dealer. I needed cash to keep my habit going. I started pushing the small boxes while skimming off the top to get my own fix. But even that wasn’t enough. I needed help. I was at a party and some chic turned me on to Wheaties. I did a bowl. That was the last thing I could remember until I got out of rehab.

Geochelone on June 19, 2009 at 8:17 PM

General Mills = GM = Government Mills = Government Motors

See a trend.

Geochelone on June 19, 2009 at 8:18 PM

I love how Megyn can’t even look at the headline she’s about to read without cracking up and laughing out loud.

manofaiki on June 19, 2009 at 8:35 PM

FDA has been a joke long before this incident.

Chubbs65 on June 19, 2009 at 8:48 PM

Whoa – Hold the fricken phone.
. : . . Let’s play connect the dots
General Mills owns Olive Garden

sannhet on June 19, 2009 at 4:36 PM

Olive Garden is owned by Darden Restaurants

Dasher on June 19, 2009 at 9:00 PM

My 1 yr old grandson was eating cranberries yesterday. He loves them. My daughter noted that they are good for him so he can have all he wants… Could be a problem for her down the road. Knowingly getting him hooked on a soon to be controlled substance. /sarc

RalphyBoy on June 19, 2009 at 9:05 PM

Ever snort cereal dust? I did a few lines of Captain Crunch and saw GOD.

Geochelone on June 19, 2009 at 9:14 PM

Is it a gateway drug?

GW_SS-Delta on June 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Yes, it all starts with Cheerios and one morning you wake up and find you’re on oatmeal.

johnsteele on June 19, 2009 at 8:00 PM

From there you move on to the stronger stuff.
Start shooting Ovaltine. Become a Tang junkie.

papertiger on June 19, 2009 at 9:31 PM

My pantry is drug-free.

TN Mom on June 19, 2009 at 9:38 PM

I got the Cheerios jones man I need some methadone.

faol on June 19, 2009 at 9:44 PM

What do americans expect when they give burnt out HIPPIES from the 60s and 70s,Opportunity in government to control important issues? The HIPPIES of yesterday are the Liberal MoonBats of today.They are a queer bunch arent they? You go Megyn I love your Conservative Attitude!

Roadking85 on June 19, 2009 at 9:59 PM

Ollld news. Rush covered this weeks ago. Remember? Before the recent rain?

Coronagold on June 19, 2009 at 10:53 PM

.

The FDA contends that these two claims make Cheerios classifiable as a new drug, because to claim that Cheerios lowers cholesterol is to claim that it mitigates and prevents high cholesterol and coronary heart disease

The FDA is lying. GMills does not make the claim the FDA is accusing them of.

It doesn’t claim to prevent cholesterol and it only repeats findinggs of studies that show it lowers cholesterol.

If i say stepping on dirty rusty nails may cause one to get tetanus, I am not practicing medicine.
some third party is pressuring for the FDA to do a power grab.

seven on June 19, 2009 at 10:57 PM

I needs me some Sugar Smack…I mean Sugar Smacks…

brdchris1 on June 19, 2009 at 11:12 PM

Commissar Hamburg, read my words.

I am now the amused owner of an enormous box of Cheerios, the front of which is dominated by the claim that Cheerios lowers cholesterol. General Mills seems to have decided to go mano a mano with the FDA, and I think the FDA is going to make Cheerios famous.

Kralizec on June 19, 2009 at 11:36 PM

I am just excited that under my new government medical program, my Cheerios are going to be FREE!!!!!!!!!
Free Cheerios. All the rich guys are gonna buy ‘em for me.
It better include the Honey Nut Cheereos or I will get tha ACLU after them.

Chuck from Tacoma on June 19, 2009 at 11:39 PM

FDA Website Search Results

Search took 0.01 seconds.

Your search – Lick my Cheerio, Commissar Hamburg. – did not match any documents.
No pages were found containing “Lick my Cheerio, Commissar Hamburg.”.

Try it yourself.

http://www.fda.gov/default.htm

Kralizec on June 19, 2009 at 11:44 PM

Is it a gateway drug?

GW_SS-Delta on June 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM

Yes. It starts out small with a milk mustache. A few years later and you turn into the man with the GOLDEN GRAHAM arm. You can tell by all TRIX marks running up their forearms.

DrAllecon on June 19, 2009 at 11:49 PM

What’s next?

Peta sues Kelloggs and Post for mistreatment of Tony the Tiger and Sugar Bear?

Basil Fawlty on June 19, 2009 at 11:51 PM

I like Cheeri W’s more than Cheeri O’s

Geochelone on June 20, 2009 at 12:36 AM

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