Kellogg, the world’s largest cereal company, is under fire again for allegedly selling healthy breakfast food that is anything but. In one case, a “natural” product was produced almost entirely with synthetic ingredients.

 

In a federal class-action lawsuit, Kellogg and its subsidiary Kashi are accused of labeling “all natural” products that contain “hazardous” substances. The ingredients also constitute a violation of what Kashi and the Food and Drug Administration consider “natural,” according to the litigation.

 

“For example, Kashi’s so-called ‘All Natural’ GoLean Shakes are composed almost entirely of synthetic and unnaturally processed ingredients, including sodium molybdate, phytonadione, sodium selenite, magnesium phosphate, niacinamide, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamin hydrochloride, potassium iodide, and other substances that have been declared to be synthetic substances by federal regulations,” the complaint states.

 

Kashi has stopped marketing GoLean Shakes.

 

Prior to the lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission twice went after Kellogg for claiming without justification that Rice Krispies boost the immune systems of children and for saying Frosted Mini-Wheats was “clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by nearly 20%.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

'All Natural' My Foot, Class Tells Kellogg (by Matt Reynolds, Courthouse News Service)

Michael Bates v. Kashi Company (U.S. District Court, Southern California) (pdf)

FTC Cracks Down on Another Dubious Claim by Kellogg (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

FTC Charges Kellogg with False Advertising (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)