Member-only story
The Truth Behind Breakfast Cereal Claims
The lowdown from the FDA.
Over the years, we’ve been bombarded with cereal slogans. Some of them are more accurate than others. With this in mind, here are some of the FDA’s findings regarding the accuracies of those slogans.
Wheaties: Breakfast of Champions. An examination of this claim concluded that very few if any champions ate Wheaties for breakfast. Most were going for a more protein-based diet. In a related poll of professional athletic trainers, none recommended Wheaties. A few mediocre athletes were found to eat Wheaties. Still, “Wheaties, Breakfast of also-rans”, was deemed to be an ineffective slogan.
Life: He likes it. Hey Mikey! While technically, Mikey did like Life cereal, the rest of the Mikey story is very disturbing. Mikey did indeed grow up hating everything. Mikey eventually embarked on a life of crime at an early age is doing 20-life for a litany of crimes.
Apple Jacks: A Bowl a Day Keeps the Bullies away: A controversial study showed this claim to be patently false. Kids who relied on this breakfast cereal for protection continued to be harassed by bullies. Not only were the kids harassed, but they were also disillusioned after having relied on the false cereal claim for protection.