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  • 2016-08-30 (xsd:date)
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  • FDA: Frosted Flakes are Healthier than Avocados (en)
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  • On 9 August 2016, the web site True Activist published an article suggesting that the influence of Big Food led the Food and Drug Administration to categorize Frosted Flakes over avocados as a healthy food: Alternative health sites Natural News and Complete Health & Happiness published versions of the same article, adding: All articles pointed to a May 2016 Wall Street Journal video that used sugary foods such as Frosted Flakes and Pop Tarts contrasted with salmon, nuts, and avocados to critique FDA guidelines: An article published in the paper was largely overlooked in repetitions of the Frosted Flakes versus avocado claim, but the piece provided context about possibly dated agency guidelines (issued during a time when fat was targeted as less healthy than sugar by nutrition experts) subject to ongoing overhauls: The comparison subsequently used by alternative health sites came from the Wall Street Journal video, not any explicit guidance from the FDA advising Americans to opt for Frosted Flakes over avocados. True Activist linked to the FDA's rudimentary system purportedly ranking processed foods over wholesome foodstuffs, but the page was about to labeling guidelines, and had no direct connection to sugary cereal or avocados: The linked regulation involved implied nutrient content claims and related label statements, holding: The regulatory standards cited in the table mandated: FDA standards for food labeling can be extensive and confusing, and occasionally appear to arbitrarily rank foods based on singular attributes (fat content, for example) versus their comprehensive nutritional profile. A direct comparison of low-fat sugary cereal and high-fat avocados was a popular example of those directives followed to the letter without further consideration of a varied diet. But the comparison between avocados and Frosted Flakes appeared in a Wall Street Journal video, not in a direct guideline issued by the FDA. FDA guidelines could be semantically construed to imply that sugary cereals are healthier than foods like almonds or avocados, but the agency made no such direct judgement (and it took significant twisting of the guidelines to wring such a conclusion out of them). Further, the video accompanied an article about the FDA's stated goal of overhauling guidelines based on outdated nutrition standards. (en)
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