Last week, Kellogg announced a new project called Share Your Breakfast, to help feed children from food-insecure households. Acknowledging the seriousness of the USDA statistic that one in four children go without breakfast each morning, Kellogg has asked Americans to upload their breakfast photos to the website shareyourbreakfast.com, and in turn they will donate $200,000 or the equivalent of 1 million breakfasts to those in need.
While this sounds like a noble endeavor, feeding hungry children highly processed, sugary cereals is not the answer. The products Kellogg is promoting in this project include: o Frosted Flakes, which contain 11 grams of sugar per three-fourths cup serving and the first three ingredients after corn are sugar, malt flavoring, and high-fructose corn syrup – even more sugar.
o Nutri-Grain bars, which are marketed as being a healthy, wholegrain snack, but actually contain over 30 ingredients, most of which is high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and fruit puree from concentrate. Each bar also contains 11 grams of sugar.
o Other products in this promotion include Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Mini-Wheats and Eggo Waffles, which contain high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, and partially hydrogenated oils.
Yet, Kellogg knows that giving away cereals with sugar and chemicals to hungry children will instigate backlash from concerned parents. This is why they’ve used their website to correct false nutrition information about the “misunderstood” nutrients in sugar. They also claim that sugar does not contribute to obesity, diabetes or heart disease.
On one hand, it’s surprising to hear that Kellogg fails to acknowledge the role of sugar in the diet-related diseases of Americans. Looking at the swath of research currently in existence on the effects of added sugars to the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and obesity, there is an undeniable correlation. Yet, on the other hand, it makes perfect sense as many industry-supported studies have perpetuated the myth that children will not eat low-sugar cereals and that if faced with a sugary cereal or no breakfast at all, they are better off with the sugary cereal. This is how they justify their position.
Above all else, Kellogg has created an advertising campaign with Share Your Breakfast. The campaign has cost Kellogg a lot of money with ads in broadcast, print, digital and social media and while they say they will donate a couple hundred thousand dollars to hungry children, this is a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend on advertising each year and make in profit.
Of course, I think that we should be paying more attention to those children without access to breakfast and doing something about it. But companies like Kellogg shouldn’t be allowed to promote their cereals that are loaded with sugar and additives as a reputable solution. Which company will step up and provide children instead with eggs, milk, fresh fruit, whole-grain bread, or yogurt to start off their day? How about Kellogg invests some of their million dollar-advertising budget to create real food? Then maybe we’ll believe that they’re actually sincere about reducing the negative effects of a lack of breakfast for children across America.
No comments:
Post a Comment