Kellogg’s Special K ‘with red fruits‘ is credited with inspiring the launch of our Bins column. Details follow.
Special K ‘
with red berries’
is the cover message, where a giant strawberry and a pair of red berries triumph on either side of the bar.
The designation, on the top side of the box, reads ‘whole wheat and cereal bar, strawberry-flavored, with cranberry and apple pieces, on a vanilla-flavored base and with added vitamins (niacin, B6, folic acid).’
There are 49 ingredients on the list, not exactly a ‘clean label’. What is worse, however, is the deception.
The ‘f
red burrs
‘ characterize the bar. Their name is displayed and repeated precisely to identify the product, with the support of photographs and ‘all red’ graphics. Therefore, their quantity, relative to the total ingredients used, must be specified. (1)
Instead, the quantity refers to ‘dehydrated fruit (6%)‘. Which moreover is not even such, since on the contrary it is a mix of compound ingredients:
– ‘cranberries (cranberries, sugar, non-hydrogenated sunflower oil)‘, and
– ‘strawberry-flavored apple pieces [apple, natural flavor, ingredient with coloring properties (carrot and blackcurrant concentrate), acid (citric acid), anti-caking agent (calcium stearate), preservative (sodium sulfite)]‘. (2)
A resounding dud for all to see. Expecting that the food represented with a health halo – a bar ‘with whole grains… with red fruits‘ – is objectively different from the reality of a product whose nutritional profile among other things, is quite poor.
The climax is then represented by the deceptive narrative about ‘what it means to be Strong, to seize new opportunities with positivity, and to face with courage the challenges that life brings us‘ and other deceptive amenities. Which implicitly suggest health benefits, including psychological, associated with the ‘range of nutritious cereal bars to help you nourish your strength.’ (3)
Deceptive advertising, unfair trade practices, trade fraud? Each authority should make the appropriate evaluations, and each distributor should prohibit the marketing of such a product since it is in clear conflict with the regulations in force. Without neglecting the due application of sanctions under Leg. 231/17 and d.lgs. 27/17.
Special K, Bin K, Ration K?(4)
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) According to theQuantity of Ingredients Declaration (QUID) rule, defined in Reg. EU 1169/11 in Article 22
(2) The functional category ‘acid’ ascribed to citric acid, among other things, escapes the lists of food additive categories provided in reg. EC 1333/08 and reg. EU 1129/11.
And it is misleading, as well as contrary to reg. EU 1169/11, Art. 7.1.c, the ‘non-hydrogenated‘ boast attributed to different vegetable fats in recipes. Since this characteristic is common to all oils and fats not provided with the instead dutiful designation ‘hydrogenated‘
(3) Pursuant to reg. EC 1924/06, so-called NHC(Nutrition & Health Claims Regulation), such boasts can come to be understood as claims related to ‘psychological and behavioral functions‘ (Art. 13.1.b) or ‘general and non-specific benefits‘ (Art. 10.3). In both cases, however, the relevant conditions of use are lacking
(4) K-Ration, K-Ration, is the name given to the military take-out meal for consumption during combat. Curious coincidences, Ration K – like Special K in Kellogg’s – promises strength and energy, and is marked by different colors. To distinguish its different versions, and the composition of the various foods
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
