San Francisco Questions Cereal Maker’s Immunity Claims

San Francisco’s city attorney has written to the Kellogg Co. to express “serious concerns about Kellogg’s advertising of sugary children’s breakfast cereals with the claims, ‘Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity’ on the front of the package.” The company is apparently promoting its Cocoa Krispies® cereal with this claim. The letter contends that “[t]he Immunity Claims may also mislead parents into believing that serving this sugary cereal will actually boost their child’s immunity, leaving parents less likely to take more productive steps to protect their children’s health.”

City Attorney Dennis Herrera also states, “At a time when parents are increasingly worried about the spread of the H1N1 virus (‘swine flu’), it is vitally important that parents receive accurate information about what they can do to protect their children’s health.” He suggests that the company may be violating California’s Unfair Competition Law and that it may be undermining “critical public health efforts to prevent the spread of a disease that the President has declared to be a national emergency.”

The October 27, 2009, letter requests that the company provide consumer studies and surveys it relied on and scientific research supporting the immunity claims, as well as “full reports of experiments, methods, results, and outcomes, in addition to the CVs of the individuals who performed the research.” If the company does not respond within 30 days, the city attorney indicates that he will “seek an immediate termination or modification of the advertising claim.”