Consumer Watchdog CSPI Says: Kraft, General Mills, Dole "Ripping Off" Consumers with Bogus Immunity Claims
Earlier this week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), urged the Feds to crack down on what they call food frauds.
According to CSPI, Kraft’s Crystal Light Immunity Berry Pomegranate drink falsely claims that its vitamins A, C, and E will help “maintain a healthy immune system.” The nonprofit nutrition and food safety watchdog group urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 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.
Kraft's Fruit2O Immunity Nutrient Enhanced Water Beverage, also bears a bogus “help maintain a healthy immune system” claim. “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.
Even foods that are healthy in their own right—bags of frozen fruit or vegetables—bear silly label claims touting magical immunity-boosting properties, says CSPI. That includes Green Giant Immunity Boost, a General Mills product, consisting of frozen broccoli, carrots, pepper strips, and seasoning. It’s a perfectly healthful food, but there is no evidence to support the claim that the product “supports a healthy immune system,” or provides the promised “immunity boost.”
Dole’s Wildly Nutritious Tropical Fruit—frozen sliced pineapple, mango, kiwi fruit, papaya, and strawberries—is another decent food. But the marketing label copy 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.”
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.
“Many, if not most, consumers associate the immune system with protection from disease,” wrote prominent researchers with expertise in nutrition and immunity, David C. Nieman, John D. Potter, and Neli Ulrich. “There is little or no evidence that these products can provide that protection.”
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