Kids' Cereal Makers Accused of Pushing Sugar

It may not come as a surprise that Kellogg's chocolate-peanut-butter-style Corn Pops has little nutritional value. But a new study says Kellogg, like many cereal makers, is aggressively marketing its unhealthiest products to kids.

The study by Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University finds that the most unhealthy cereals, including Corn Pops and General Mills' Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, and Trix are also the top brands pushed on children.

The Yale research lands right after the Food and Drug Administration slapped the industry for assigning the Smart Choices health label on hundreds of products. Last week, the Smart Choices program, funded by the food industry, said it would suspend its labeling after the FDA questioned criteria for making health claims. Earlier this year, the FDA warned General Mills that it was making misleading claims about Cheerios reducing cholesterol.

Clearly, there's a new sheriff in town—FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg—scrutinizing the food companies. With federal watchdogs already questioning the health claims food companies are making, it looks like more questions for cereal makers like Kellogg Co., General Mills Inc., Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (Post cereals), and PepsiCo (Quaker Oats).