General Mills sued over nutritional content of Cheerios Protein

In a class-action lawsuit filed by Center for Science in the Public Interest in California, plaintiffs Nancy Coe, Tori Castro, and Pamela Mizzi, who are acting on behalf of the group, accuse the defendant of misusing the word “protein” in Cheerios Protein.

“Consumers who buy Cheerios Protein probably think they’re doing themselves a favor, and that this more expensive product is essentially a protein-fortified version of original Cheerios”.

According to the CSPI, while Cheerios Protein does technically contain more protein than classic Cheerios, the serving sizes are adjusted to make it seem like more than it is; the “recommended serving size” (upon which nutritional information is based) of original Cheerios is 28g, while the recommended serving of Cheerios Protein is 55g.

According to the lawsuit, the breakfast cereal, which is allegedly marketed to children, contains only a “smidgen” of protein, about 4 grams per serving, which is only around 5% of the average protein serving of Americans daily and significantly less than the 11 grams it advertises.

But the difference in protein will not bring any improvements in any person’s diet, the group says, since an adult needs between 46 and 56 grams of protein per day, while teenagers need between 46 and 52 grams of protein daily.

The new Protein Cheerios are actually just like regular Cheerios, just with lots more sugar. With 17 times as much sugar as original Cheerios, Cheerios Protein is actually more conducive to diabetes, weight gain, heart disease, and tooth decay. After adjusting all the factors, the new product, Cheerios Protein, has been found to be having around a gram more protein by weight.

General Mills spokesman Mike Siemienas said, in a statement, the new Cheerios Protein packaging follows strict federal regulations, and denies there was any attempt by the cereal maker to mislead consumers. If General Mills can prove their protein claim, will the sugar issue be enough to sustain the lawsuit? Either way, consumers of Cheerios Protein should be on the lookout. By weight, Cheerios Protein has just over eight-instead of 17 – times as much sugar as its simpler counterpart. What’s more, they are proving the talk isn’t cheap: The protein shake business has become a behemoth. Sales of health and wellness bars, which often advertiseprotein content, aregrowing more than twice as fast as the overall food industry. Especially given that the cereal is beefed up with little soy protein clusters, which, as Tom Philpott pointed out on Mother Jones, probablywouldn’t be too appealing without a heavy dose of sugar.

In the USA, sugar overconsumption is already a huge problem.

Roberto A. Ferdman is a reporter for Wonkblog covering food, economics, and other things.