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CSPI Urges Feds to Crack Down on Food Frauds 7-1-08
Kraft’s Crystal Light Immunity Berry Pomegranate drink falsely claims that its
vitamins A, C, and E will help “maintain a healthy immune system,” charges the
Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonprofit nutrition and food
safety watchdog group today urged the Food and Drug Administration to crack down
on that and other deceptive “structure/function” claims increasingly appearing
on food labels.
When companies claim their products will “maintain a healthy immune system,”
consumers believe this means those products will help ward off disease. But
while vitamins A, C, and E are important for the functioning of just about every
system in the human body, there’s little evidence to suggest that drinking
Crystal Light will have any impact on the average person’s immune system.
Consider vitamin A. There is no consistent evidence that supplementing with A is
beneficial for the immune function of adults, and it might even worsen
respiratory illnesses among children, according to researchers at the Harvard
School of Public Health. And the Crystal Light drink has only 500 IU—just a
small fraction of what one would find in a typical multivitamin. (In fact, says
CSPI, there’s not much berry or pomegranate in this drink either; less than 2
percent of it is unspecified “natural flavor,” and the rest is water, artificial
sweeteners, preservatives, and food dyes.)
Another Kraft product, Fruit2O Immunity Nutrient Enhanced Water Beverage, also
bears a bogus “help maintain a healthy immune system” claim. (Its Berry
Pomegranate flavor is just as bereft of berries and pomegranates as Crystal
Light as well.) “Food manufacturers know that they can get away with this kind
of consumer deception because the Bush FDA is letting the industry play by many
of the same loosely-goosey rules followed by dietary supplement manufacturers,”
says CSPI legal affairs director Bruce Silverglade. “The result is that the
deception that is commonplace on dietary supplement labels has now spread to the
much larger food industry.”
Even some foods that are perfectly healthy in their own right—bags of frozen
fruit or vegetables—bear silly label claims touting magical immunity-boosting
properties. For instance, Green Giant Immunity Boost, a General Mills product,
consists of frozen broccoli, carrots, pepper strips, and seasoning. While it’s a
perfectly healthful food, there is no evidence to support the claim that the
product “supports a healthy immune system,” or provides the promised “immunity
boost.” In an informal survey of 1,000 health-oriented consumers conducted by
CSPI, 49 percent thought this product would help prevent colds and the flu.
Dole’s Wildly Nutritious Tropical Fruit—frozen sliced pineapple, mango, kiwi
fruit, papaya, and strawberries—is another decent food. But the marketing copy
on the label makes it sound like nothing short of a medical miracle, whose
vitamins variously maintain, support, or even enhance “white blood cell
function” and the cells lining the “airway, urinary, and digestive tracts,” and
can “protect the body against viruses and bacteria.”
“Sometimes a pineapple is just a pineapple,” said CSPI senior nutritionist David
Schardt. “Consumers should eat their fruits and vegetables, by all means. But
save your money by watching out for weasel words like ‘support,’ ‘maintain,’ or
‘enhance,’ which often imply that a specific brand name food can prevent
disease.”
Express disease prevention claims on food labels must be approved by the FDA
prior to marketing. But food companies do not need the FDA’s permission to claim
that various nutrients allegedly play in the normal structure or functioning of
the body. Thus, while the makers of Welch’s Fiber 100% Grape Juice may not claim
that that product—with its added fiber—cures chronic constipation or relieves
irritable bowel syndrome, they can state that it “support[s] a healthy digestive
system.” But in this case, the fiber comes from maltodextrin, not fruit, and
there’s no evidence that the amount of maltodextrin in the grape juice has any
effect on digestion.
In a formal complaint filed today with the FDA, CSPI says the agency should stop
the bogus claims and set new rules for food companies requiring them to base
future claims on solid scientific evidence and make only FDA-approved claims.
CSPI’s complaint to the FDA also criticized claims that products supposedly
“help nourish your brain” (Minute Maid Enhanced Juice Blend Omega-3 DHA
Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored Blend of 5 Juices), “keep your digestive system
healthy” (Sunsweet PlumSmart for Digestive Health Plum Juice Extra with Fiber),
and “protect cartilage and joints” (Minute Maid Enhanced Juice Active 750 mg
Glucosamine HCL).
Several prominent researchers with expertise in nutrition and immunity, David C.
Nieman, John D. Potter, and Neli Ulrich, also today urged FDA to suspend its
approval of immunity-related structure/function claims on food labels.
“Many, if not most, consumers associate the immune system with protection from
disease,” the researchers wrote. “There is little or no evidence that these
products can provide that protection.”
The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health advocacy
group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition, food safety, and
pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian
subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants.