Nutrition Facts panels reveal shocking surprises
Get smart
You know what marketing departments hate?
Nutrition fact panels.
They can spend hours brainstorming clever names for their products but they have to tell you what’s behind it on that darn nutrition facts panel.
And the two don’t always mesh.
That became glaringly obvious five years ago when I looked at a box of Kellogg’s Smart Start cereal. I noticed that the sugar content seemed high.
That wouldn’t make sense, right? Kellogg’s markets Smart Start to adults. They call it the “Strong Heart Antioxidants” cereal.
Out of curiosity, I picked a kids’ cereal at random, just to see how crazy high the sugar content would be.
What I found made my jaw drop.
Recently, I saw a Smart Start ad on TV. I wondered if Kellogg’s might have given Smart Start a makeover in the past five years. You know…to actually make it a smart way to start your day.
Not a chance.
Some details have changed slightly. But here’s the astonishing per serving matchup…
* Calories
Smart Start: 190
Honeycomb: 130
* Total Carbohydrates
Smart Start: 44
Honeycomb: 28
* Sugars
Smart Start: 14 grams
Honeycomb: 10 grams
Ready for the kicker? All these amounts are for one cup of Smart Start and a cup AND A HALF of Honeycomb.
Five years later, the kids’ cereal still blows Smart Start away. Even Froot Loops delivers fewer calories, carbs, and sugars than Smart Start!
Needless to say, Honeycomb and Froot Loops are not “heart healthy” choices either. But you’d be better off eating either one of these kids’ cereals rather than the “smart” adult cereal.
Over the past five years, how many people have looked at the Smart Start box with its heart-health claims, and bought the cereal, ignoring the nutrition facts panel? Thousands, I’m sure. And if they’ve eaten a bowl every morning, many have been inching closer to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart dangers.
There’s only one way to describe that… Well, to be nice, we’ll just leave it at “not smart.”
