Kellogg settles FTC charges that Frosted Mini-Wheats ads were false

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Take one child. Administer sugar. What happens?

Apparently one of the side effects isn’t paying better attention.

Cereal giant Kellogg has agreed to settle federal claims that the Battle Creek, Mich., company falsely advertised the benefits of eating Frosted Mini-Wheats, including that children who ate the cereal got a 20% boost in attentiveness compared with children who skipped breakfast.

The Federal Trade Commission decided the claim was a stretch.

‘In fact, according to the clinical study referred to in Kellogg’s advertising, only about half the children who ate Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast showed any improvement in attentiveness, and only about one in nine improved by 20% or more,” the FTC said in a statement announcing the proposed settlement Monday.

Kellogg didn’t admit wrongdoing in settling the FTC’s complaint.

‘Kellogg Co. has a long history of responsible advertising. We stand behind the validity of our clinical study yet have adjusted our communication to incorporate FTC’s guidance,’ the company said in a statement.

The FTC said the proposed settlement with Kellogg bars the company from making “deceptive or misleading cognitive health claims for Kellogg’s breakfast foods and snack foods, and bars the company from misrepresenting any tests or studies.”

One consumer advocacy group said it hoped the FTC’s action was a sign of more rigorous enforcement against false dietary claims.

“We are hoping the company cleans up its act and starts making healthier products that are based on well-founded dietary advice instead of having to justify the sale of highly sugared foods,” said Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is based in Washington.

—Ron White