Not-So-Smart Choice

Smart Choice Branding Makes for Bad Decisions in Cereal Aisle

Published on October 1, 2009

By Consumer Health Advocate, Frank Mangano

Have you been noticing green checkmarks on your groceries lately?  They’re found on all sorts of foods, be them perishable or packaged.  

These happy little green check marks are the brainchild of a program called Smart Choice, a program spearheaded by a non-profit foundation specializing in health called The Key Stone Center. 

The point of the program sounds simple enough:  It gives nutrition-conscious consumers a simple way of identifying what foods are nutrition-friendly.  If there’s a green check mark on the box or bag, the consumer can rest assured it meets their exacting standards as to what qualifies as “good for you.”

But nutritionists have sounded the alarm in recent weeks with how liberal The Key Stone Center is in doling out these check marks, as they’ve been spotted on boxes of Kellogg’s Froot Loops (15 grams of sugar in one cup), General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs (11 grams of sugar in 3/4ths of a cup) and General Mills’ Lucky Charms (14 grams of sugar in one cup).

These cereals are not exactly my or anyone else’s idea of “smart choice” breakfast selections.  Everyone except the people at The Key Stone Center, apparently.

What do they say in defense of these cereals?  They call them smart choices because they have micronutrients and fiber.  That may be true, but that’s a pretty weak defense when you stop and think about it. 

It’s sort of like defending soda pop as a “smart choice” for drinking because it contains water.  Yes, soda does contain water, but if you take the totality of negative and positive things added to that water to make it soda, the negatives overwhelm the positives (e.g. empty calories, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, added sugars, etc.).  Similarly, all cereals have elements of nutrition, yes, but not enough to outweigh the amount of good stuff that’s stripped from the cereal grain itself when it’s processed.

Smart Choice defended itself further by saying that nutritionists aren’t pointing out all the positives of their program, as most of their 2,000 products branded with “Smart Choice” labeling are fruits, vegetables and lean meats.  True enough, but to paraphrase an old proverb, a program is only as strong as its weakest link.  In other words, the Smart Choice program loses its credibility when it labels foods that are widely regarded as nutritional nightmares.

I have no doubt the “Smart Choice” program was created with the best of intentions for consumers.  But to paraphrase another ancient axiom, the road to nutritional hell is paved with good intentions. 

Be wary of health claims and neat-o labeling.  All too often, they conveniently gloss over added ingredients that are nothing more than obstacles in your pathway to true health. 

Use your common sense and don’t buy into what “Smart Choice” is selling in the cereal aisle.

(From http://www.naturalhealthontheweb.com)