this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Kellogg’s is waging a war here over Tigre Toño and Sam el Tucán.

A 2019 policy requires companies that make unhealthy foods to include warning labels on the front of any boxes they sell in Mexico to educate consumers about things like excess sugar and fat. Any food with a warning label — like Kellogg’s Fruit Loops or its Frosted Flakes, which typically contain more than 37 grams of added sugar in a 100-gram serving — is also banned from including a mascot on its packaging.

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[–] [email protected] 126 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Kelloggs has been on the wrong side of history from its conception when they tried to make people stop jerking it

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Thats why i jerk into the Kelloggs boxes in the store.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Any flavour preferences?

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Kellogg would be rotating in his grave. The dude was OBSESSED with the healthfulness of cereal (or at least his weird version of it) and his company namesake basically peddles candy in cereal form to children.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Dude thought that meat and flavorful food caused sexual desire and lead to masturbation. He was an anti-masturbation crusader and invented his breakfast cereal to help decrease sexual desire.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

I'm no fan of poisoning our youth and ourselves with sugar, but I do smile at such a puritanical legacy being so obscenely destroyed.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'd be a god today if all those thousands of bowls of cereal I pounded down in my youth were actually healthy.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Don't forget to finish your Orange Juice!

[–] [email protected] 64 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Chile started using these some years back. I honestly like them. We also did the mascot ban as well, so no Tony the Tiger, and even Pringles cans have a censored face

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The question I have, are sales of these products down? Do these implementations work to reduce unhealthy consumption? Are hospitals and medical offices seeing less revenue? If they don't actually work, what will?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

We don't have that sort of data, at least not enough to determine a causal link. But the cereal manufacturers have tons of research on the best way to sell cereal. So consider the inverse. Would a cereal company need to place a cartoon mascot on the box to help sell unhealthy food to children? Would they fight so hard to keep them there if it wasn't effective?

Every medical scientist would agree that too much sugar is unhealthy. And looking at the nutritional info on the box, these foods have too much sugar. What good is a mascot in the face of cold, hard science? If it appeals to children, they will apply pressure to their parents who will purchase the food "as a treat." And as a treat, a little sugar isn't a big deal. But those kids could be equally excited about a pack of candy or some cookies, which are actual treats, not a part of your daily routine. Without Tony El Tigre, Frosted Flakes look like sugar coated khaki pocket lint. They might enjoy eating them, but they won't clamor for them in the grocery aisle.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

At least according to the studies, and reports from people I work with and friends, yes, they do seem to work. Here you can read a Google translated article talking about the effects since the law came into effect in Chile in 2016: https://www-ciperchile-cl.translate.goog/2021/05/24/ley-de-etiquetado-evaluando-sus-efectos-en-consumidores-y-empresas-de-alimentos/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

It's good to note that another consequence of this law, is that apart from the mascots being prohibited, it's also prohibited to play ads for unhealthy foods (not sure if they need to specifically target children, or not) aren't allowed until after a certain hour in the evening, like 9:00pm or something.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If nutrition labels bothers them so much, why not just make the cereal more nutritious and less full of shit? It's not hard to see that there is a solution that doesn't involve looking like a villain with an army of lawyers to fight a label.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Because changing your product, which specifically appeals to the target purchasers because of what you're changing, is going to make your product revenue take a nose dive? It should be obvious why they're fighting it with lawyers. Hopefully the laws are ironclad and upheld so Kellogg's gets their shit pushed in.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

But their products are known for being high fiber content, so unfortunately, they'll push their shit right back out. 😆

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Dear god, more than a third of Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes is sugar?!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And that's not the worst I have seen. Things like raisins are basically flavoured sugar.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago (9 children)

But they're dried grapes and mostly without added sugar. We shouldn't need to live in a world where raisins are sold "now with less sugar". Humans spent hundreds of years cultivating eating grapes to be as sweet as they are...

[–] Hacksaw 32 points 2 years ago

Most raisin Bran cereal (including Kellogg's) coat the raisins in more sugar! https://www.seriouseats.com/cereal-eats-the-great-raisin-bran-off

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

This is one of the few things this mexican government has done right. I think this was copied from Chile, and should be copied in many countries including the U.S. F*ck those greedy obese factories.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

If I'm seeing this right and the Mexican labels are just either-or "excessive" labels then check out the way the UK does it – the green/orange/red colouring makes it easy to tell how horrible something is at a glance

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I say ban all advertising targeting minors. Any products made for minors must not have intentionally appealing labels.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago (9 children)

Any food with ... more than 37 grams of added sugar in a 100-gram serving is also banned from including a mascot on its packaging

Damn, that's really good. Sounds a little bit like the plain packaging laws many countries have on cigarettes, which have proven to be extremely effective in the decade since they were first rolled out. It's obviously a bit more limited, but it's still a great move.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago

they suffered in the Chilean market when the labels were introduced about 5 years ago... so it's no surprise they are going to war. in stead of ... you know, making healthier food

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago (12 children)

I saw this while in Mexico and really liked the idea. I was then immediately bummed out when realizing almost everything had that label on it and buying food without excess sugar and salt was a lot trickier.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

Awareness is the first step. It will take time for people to incentivize production of clean food

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