Ben & Jerry's "fake" All-Natural says CSPI...and I agree!

Here I am on FOX Business today with Charles Payne talking about synthetics in food... And are they "natural?"

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream--the Vermont, frozen treat, cowmobile, institution founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1977--has been a Unilever company for a decade now. And as part of the soap and food conglomerate, can Ben & Jerry's legitimately claim "all-natural" on their packaging when in fact, 90% of the ice cream flavors include fake food?

Chemically engineered synthetic ingredients including corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and alkalized cocoa appearing in 48 out of 53 Ben & Jerry's offerings are NOT natural says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and CSPI is pushing for Ben & Jerry's to change their packaging, removing the misleading and arguably false "all-natural" claim...

If it's fake, it's not really food. Period. Obviously this is not just a problem with Ben & Jerry's... And all of the above calls into question the fact that the USDA/FDA has no legal definition for "all-natural." That has to change. One hint: How 'bout the definition of "natural" for starters..? "existing in or formed by nature..."

Want your food from the farmer or the chemical engineer?? Either way, industry must be 100% transparent about what's in our food and the associated risks.

Snap, Crackle, Pop Immunity..?

Immunity in a box of breakfast candy..? You weren't fooled by this.

I appeared on FOX Business Network with Stuart Varney Wednesday to chat up the latest cereal box outrage...

Obviously Kellogg's figured American parents are dumber than dumb when they tried to claim Cocoa Krispies and Rice Krispies promoted immunity.

Spray on a few synthetic vitamins and that's immunity?

San Francisco city attorney, Dennis Herrera, said not so fast... Of course these claims should never have made it to the shelves in the first place. (hell-o, FDA? FCC? BBB?) How cavalier these junk food makers and marketers are...

So we-the-people said "no," and now the Snap, Crackle and Pop immunity nonsense is going bye-bye--just like the dumb "Smart Choice" program...

Want immunity for your kids..?

Mothers, breast-feed your babies. 6 months, a year...
Load your kids up on rich green produce and berries...
Make sure your child gets 10-12 hours of sleep every night.

And how about flu-, infection- and inflammation-fighting Vitamin D? If you live above the latitude running from Atlanta to L.A...you're too far north in the Fall and Winter for the UVB rays of the sun to work their magic converting cholesterol to Vitamin D. You need a supplement, and today's recommended doses are being upped upped upped. Check with your pediatrician first... I give my children 1000 IUs of D-3 every day... And the more I read, the better I feel about that decision.

We All Knew "Smart Choice" Was Dumb...

"Smart Choice"... and all those silly industry-sponsored food-labeling systems telling us what is "better for you..." Pepsi, Kellogg's, Kraft... Up till two years ago Kraft was part of Philip Morris, aka, Altria...

Fruit Loops, with its first ingredient being sugar, is a "Smart Choice." Thank goodness Smart Choice has been suspended due to pressure from the Yale Rudd Center, CSPI, Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, NAAO, and a whole host of nutrition, health and obesity experts.

It was big news this week in DC at the annual meeting of the Pharma-backed Obesity Society. Other big news was that most of the marketing money spent to promote cereal to kids is spent on the least healthy "boxed breakfast candy." No surprise, right?

I spoke about this today on the Fox Business Network with Stuart Varney. (Stuart always gives me hell on screen and off...maybe a hater crush??...) Check it out...

CSPI likes the idea of having the IOM suggest uniform labeling guidelines to the FDA... I also like what Yale's Dr. David Katz is doing with his NuVal system of grading food products on a scale of 1-100 based on nutrition value.

Whatever system is decided upon, we know we need a clear, concise, universally adopted food labeling system we all can trust. If we're gonna eat it, we should know what "it" is...

Is the Boss Responsible for Your Fat..?

Employee Obesity is costing Employers $45 Billion annually...

Employers are in a bind, with costs of employee healthcare packages seeing 7, 8, 9% year-over-year price increases. Ouch! What's an employer to do?

Scotts/Miracle Gro doesn't want to employ smokers or improper eaters. Neither does the renowned Cleveland Clinic (Dr. Cosgrove, Do NOT back down. You're the voice of reason on this topic. Do not be bullied into submission).

Yet, in Michigan, the obese have become a protected class. Is that fair? Should employers be forced to hire a high risk high cost employee population? Remember, 9 times out of 10, obesity is due to lifestyle choices. Clearly, we already have laws for disability and harassment/bullying. Do the obese deserve special treatment?

And if employees refuse to make minimal efforts to stay out of hospital beds, should coworkers pick up the tab? Will lack of health compliance cause the elimination of employer-based healthcare benefits for us all..??

Talked this up with Brian Sullivan on FOX Business Network Wednesday... Check it out.