Checkmark of Shame

Food writers all over have recently commented on the shameful food industry initiative to create a recommendation for the front of packaged foods. The inclusion of Froot Loops as a "smart" choice was so outrageous that it stood alone as the emblem of this deceptive effort, though plenty of other disgraceful choices also characterized the endeavor. I know that not all my breakfast cereal choices are impeccable: you can see here the logo from my own packages of Special K and Quaker Life*.

Poetic justice for once has struck: The New York Times reports:

Under pressure from state and federal authorities who feared consumers would be misled, the food industry on Friday started backing away from a major labeling campaign meant to highlight the nutritional benefits of hundreds of products....
Kellogg’s, which makes Froot Loops and other sugary cereals that received the program’s seal of approval, said that it would begin phasing out packaging bearing the program logo as its inventories ran out.

Officials with the program said that Smart Choices would suspend most of its operations while they waited for the Food and Drug Administration to devise regulations for package-front nutrition labeling. Those rules could differ from the program’s criteria.

The article, Food Label Program to Suspend Operations, quoted a spokesman for better nutrition: “The ironic thing is, their device for pre-empting government involvement actually seems to have stimulated government involvement.” Michael F. Jacobson, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, had resigned as a participant in the Smart Choices enterprise when its real nature became apparent.

In non-food consumer news, another indirect admission of deceptive labeling:

The Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds for all those “Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses.

They may have been a great electronic baby sitter, but the unusual refunds appear to be a tacit admission that they did not increase infant intellect.

Two strikes for poetic justice in one day. Too bad that's kind of an anomaly.

*A note on Quaker Life: as we were standing in front of a cereal display deciding between Life, Cheerios, and Wheaties I said "I'm tired of Life." A man pushing a cart nearby came over and said he was relieved that I meant Life the cereal -- "You looked healthy," he said. I explained that they had run a lot of specials last summer and that I had been eating it all the time. I don't know if it was a smart choice, but it's definitely an attention getter to be tired of Life.