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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Kellogg’s is waging a war here over Tigre Toño and Sam el Tucán.

A 2019 policy requires companies that make unhealthy foods to include warning labels on the front of any boxes they sell in Mexico to educate consumers about things like excess sugar and fat. Any food with a warning label — like Kellogg’s Fruit Loops or its Frosted Flakes, which typically contain more than 37 grams of added sugar in a 100-gram serving — is also banned from including a mascot on its packaging.

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[-] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.one 126 points 1 year ago

Kelloggs has been on the wrong side of history from its conception when they tried to make people stop jerking it

[-] CookieJarObserver@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 year ago

Thats why i jerk into the Kelloggs boxes in the store.

[-] lasagna@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago

Any flavour preferences?

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[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 71 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Kellogg would be rotating in his grave. The dude was OBSESSED with the healthfulness of cereal (or at least his weird version of it) and his company namesake basically peddles candy in cereal form to children.

[-] stown@sedd.it 18 points 1 year ago

Dude thought that meat and flavorful food caused sexual desire and lead to masturbation. He was an anti-masturbation crusader and invented his breakfast cereal to help decrease sexual desire.

[-] ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

I'm no fan of poisoning our youth and ourselves with sugar, but I do smile at such a puritanical legacy being so obscenely destroyed.

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[-] Sanjuaro@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago

Chile started using these some years back. I honestly like them. We also did the mascot ban as well, so no Tony the Tiger, and even Pringles cans have a censored face

[-] JoeClu@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

The question I have, are sales of these products down? Do these implementations work to reduce unhealthy consumption? Are hospitals and medical offices seeing less revenue? If they don't actually work, what will?

[-] Sanjuaro@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

At least according to the studies, and reports from people I work with and friends, yes, they do seem to work. Here you can read a Google translated article talking about the effects since the law came into effect in Chile in 2016: https://www-ciperchile-cl.translate.goog/2021/05/24/ley-de-etiquetado-evaluando-sus-efectos-en-consumidores-y-empresas-de-alimentos/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

It's good to note that another consequence of this law, is that apart from the mascots being prohibited, it's also prohibited to play ads for unhealthy foods (not sure if they need to specifically target children, or not) aren't allowed until after a certain hour in the evening, like 9:00pm or something.

[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

We don't have that sort of data, at least not enough to determine a causal link. But the cereal manufacturers have tons of research on the best way to sell cereal. So consider the inverse. Would a cereal company need to place a cartoon mascot on the box to help sell unhealthy food to children? Would they fight so hard to keep them there if it wasn't effective?

Every medical scientist would agree that too much sugar is unhealthy. And looking at the nutritional info on the box, these foods have too much sugar. What good is a mascot in the face of cold, hard science? If it appeals to children, they will apply pressure to their parents who will purchase the food "as a treat." And as a treat, a little sugar isn't a big deal. But those kids could be equally excited about a pack of candy or some cookies, which are actual treats, not a part of your daily routine. Without Tony El Tigre, Frosted Flakes look like sugar coated khaki pocket lint. They might enjoy eating them, but they won't clamor for them in the grocery aisle.

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[-] MrFlamey@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago

If nutrition labels bothers them so much, why not just make the cereal more nutritious and less full of shit? It's not hard to see that there is a solution that doesn't involve looking like a villain with an army of lawyers to fight a label.

[-] PickTheStick@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

Because changing your product, which specifically appeals to the target purchasers because of what you're changing, is going to make your product revenue take a nose dive? It should be obvious why they're fighting it with lawyers. Hopefully the laws are ironclad and upheld so Kellogg's gets their shit pushed in.

[-] CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

But their products are known for being high fiber content, so unfortunately, they'll push their shit right back out. 😆

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 50 points 1 year ago

Dear god, more than a third of Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes is sugar?!

[-] lasagna@programming.dev 7 points 1 year ago

And that's not the worst I have seen. Things like raisins are basically flavoured sugar.

[-] PerCarita@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 year ago

But they're dried grapes and mostly without added sugar. We shouldn't need to live in a world where raisins are sold "now with less sugar". Humans spent hundreds of years cultivating eating grapes to be as sweet as they are...

[-] Hacksaw@lemmy.ca 32 points 1 year ago

Most raisin Bran cereal (including Kellogg's) coat the raisins in more sugar! https://www.seriouseats.com/cereal-eats-the-great-raisin-bran-off

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[-] baruchin@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is one of the few things this mexican government has done right. I think this was copied from Chile, and should be copied in many countries including the U.S. F*ck those greedy obese factories.

If I'm seeing this right and the Mexican labels are just either-or "excessive" labels then check out the way the UK does it – the green/orange/red colouring makes it easy to tell how horrible something is at a glance

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[-] MicroWave@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago

Now, U.S. regulators are considering a similar policy, because they say it will help consumers make healthier decisions. The details haven’t been ironed out yet — the Food and Drug Administration just announced it is studying the idea. The reforms seem likely to be more modest; the FDA already appears to have rejected the stark, stop-sign-like warnings on Mexican packages and hasn’t mentioned banning mascots. But advocates in both Mexico and the United States say that U.S. regulators should prepare for a years-long political fight.

[-] cybervseas@lemmy.world 50 points 1 year ago

Yeah because childhood obesity and diabetes is no biggie. Gotta make sure all that corn gets sold…

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 15 points 1 year ago

considering they’re still not required to enter the “% daily value” for “total sugars” …

[-] Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 year ago

Isn't the daily amount like 0 you need? So Infinity % for any added amount?

This is actually an honest question, because you can easily cover your daily needs with other carbs and even those are technically not necessarily as it can be metabolized by fat in your body, but no point in bending the truth here. The body needs sugar one way or the other, but none of them are processed sugars and should probably come from rice, potatoes or bread instead.

[-] cerement@slrpnk.net 14 points 1 year ago

“% daily value” is supposedly something like “percent recommended daily value” and it’s a bizarre balance between minimum to avoid deficiencies and maximum to avoid overdose as determined by a board of corporate employees with no training in medicine, diet, or nutrition

so, while there’s no minimum for “total sugars”, most who are actually trained in diet and nutrition seem to agree you really shouldn’t be going over 25–30g total sugars …

FDA does provide a daily value for “added sugars” – 100% daily value is 50g (10-ish teaspoons) which sounds a little excessive to me …

[-] Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 year ago

At least it sounds almost reasonable if the sugar comes from fruits. That's roughly the amount (25g sugar) you ingest when eating 2 apples.

Thank you for the interesting, but concerning answer.

[-] SwingingKoala@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 year ago

Keep in mind that modern fruits have almost nothing to do with natural fruit, they have been selected for a higher sugar content and other things. Fruits themselves aren't healthy, they are more like candy, just not quite as bad.

[-] Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Maybe, kinda. You have to eat them in moderation like anything. They at least provide other useful nutrients.

In my opinion fruits are slightly more beneficial than bread, pasta or potatoes which do not contain as much sugar, but more of other carbs which are in my opinion not much better.

So I see your point, but I don't think they are as bad.

[-] SwingingKoala@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago

Maybe, kinda. You have to eat them in moderation like anything

But that's not true. You can eat as many veggies as you like..

They at least provide other useful nutrients.

They do, but you can get all those nutrients from other foods that contain far less sugar.

[-] Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago

Actually I can't argue against that. You are obviously correct.

I just believe that fruits are not as bad as it helps with variety in your diet and they are not just empty calories.

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[-] SwingingKoala@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago

You need the amount that maximizes profits for the producers while keeping you alive and consuming for as long as possible silly.

Or at least until you get sick enough for Big Pharma and Insurance to then have their turn with you

[-] Treczoks@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago

the Food and Drug Administration just announced it is studying the idea.

Translation: They are bombarded by the food industry to let this idea go, STAT! They probably don't have time for a (healthy) lunch because lobbyists are sitting on their laps from sunrise to sundown, dictating their version of the law.

[-] kool_newt@lemm.ee 27 points 11 months ago

I say ban all advertising targeting minors. Any products made for minors must not have intentionally appealing labels.

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[-] aquinteros@lemmy.world 22 points 11 months ago

they suffered in the Chilean market when the labels were introduced about 5 years ago... so it's no surprise they are going to war. in stead of ... you know, making healthier food

[-] Anonymoose@infosec.pub 20 points 1 year ago

I saw this while in Mexico and really liked the idea. I was then immediately bummed out when realizing almost everything had that label on it and buying food without excess sugar and salt was a lot trickier.

[-] INeedMana@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Awareness is the first step. It will take time for people to incentivize production of clean food

[-] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

It's not tricky. You're just in the wrong aisle. Get a delicious mango in Mexico.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

You can't survive on mangos alone for very long.

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[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 20 points 1 year ago

Any food with ... more than 37 grams of added sugar in a 100-gram serving is also banned from including a mascot on its packaging

Damn, that's really good. Sounds a little bit like the plain packaging laws many countries have on cigarettes, which have proven to be extremely effective in the decade since they were first rolled out. It's obviously a bit more limited, but it's still a great move.

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[-] athos77@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Wait, wait - does that mean we're going to lose the Coca-Cola polar bear?!

[Actually, they'll probably just release the Christmas version in a collectable polar-bear-shaped bottle to get around this... ]

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this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
468 points (99.0% liked)

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