Kellogg’s is waging a war here over Tigre Toño and Sam el Tucán.
A 2019 policy requires companies that make unhealthy foods to include warning labels on the front of any boxes they sell in Mexico to educate consumers about things like excess sugar and fat. Any food with a warning label — like Kellogg’s Fruit Loops or its Frosted Flakes, which typically contain more than 37 grams of added sugar in a 100-gram serving — is also banned from including a mascot on its packaging.
Kelloggs has been on the wrong side of history from its conception when they tried to make people stop jerking it
That’s gross, where exactly do you do that so I can avoid it? And what Cereal is it again?
So I can avoid it of course…
Kellogg would be rotating in his grave. The dude was OBSESSED with the healthfulness of cereal (or at least his weird version of it) and his company namesake basically peddles candy in cereal form to children.
Dude thought that meat and flavorful food caused sexual desire and lead to masturbation. He was an anti-masturbation crusader and invented his breakfast cereal to help decrease sexual desire.
I’d be a god today if all those thousands of bowls of cereal I pounded down in my youth were actually healthy.
Chile started using these some years back. I honestly like them. We also did the mascot ban as well, so no Tony the Tiger, and even Pringles cans have a censored face
The question I have, are sales of these products down? Do these implementations work to reduce unhealthy consumption? Are hospitals and medical offices seeing less revenue? If they don’t actually work, what will?
We don’t have that sort of data, at least not enough to determine a causal link. But the cereal manufacturers have tons of research on the best way to sell cereal. So consider the inverse. Would a cereal company need to place a cartoon mascot on the box to help sell unhealthy food to children? Would they fight so hard to keep them there if it wasn’t effective?
Every medical scientist would agree that too much sugar is unhealthy. And looking at the nutritional info on the box, these foods have too much sugar. What good is a mascot in the face of cold, hard science? If it appeals to children, they will apply pressure to their parents who will purchase the food “as a treat.” And as a treat, a little sugar isn’t a big deal. But those kids could be equally excited about a pack of candy or some cookies, which are actual treats, not a part of your daily routine. Without Tony El Tigre, Frosted Flakes look like sugar coated khaki pocket lint. They might enjoy eating them, but they won’t clamor for them in the grocery aisle.
At least according to the studies, and reports from people I work with and friends, yes, they do seem to work. Here you can read a Google translated article talking about the effects since the law came into effect in Chile in 2016: https://www-ciperchile-cl.translate.goog/2021/05/24/ley-de-etiquetado-evaluando-sus-efectos-en-consumidores-y-empresas-de-alimentos/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
It’s good to note that another consequence of this law, is that apart from the mascots being prohibited, it’s also prohibited to play ads for unhealthy foods (not sure if they need to specifically target children, or not) aren’t allowed until after a certain hour in the evening, like 9:00pm or something.
Dear god, more than a third of Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes is sugar?!
And that’s not the worst I have seen. Things like raisins are basically flavoured sugar.
But they’re dried grapes and mostly without added sugar. We shouldn’t need to live in a world where raisins are sold “now with less sugar”. Humans spent hundreds of years cultivating eating grapes to be as sweet as they are…
Most raisin Bran cereal (including Kellogg’s) coat the raisins in more sugar! https://www.seriouseats.com/cereal-eats-the-great-raisin-bran-off
The sugar we know isn’t that different. It’s essentially a dried plant too but with stuff removed.
Sure adding sugar is another big issue. But fruits aren’t that great for us either. Certainly better to eat an apple than drink apple juice though.
If nutrition labels bothers them so much, why not just make the cereal more nutritious and less full of shit? It’s not hard to see that there is a solution that doesn’t involve looking like a villain with an army of lawyers to fight a label.
Because changing your product, which specifically appeals to the target purchasers because of what you’re changing, is going to make your product revenue take a nose dive? It should be obvious why they’re fighting it with lawyers. Hopefully the laws are ironclad and upheld so Kellogg’s gets their shit pushed in.
