I think I have adequately conveyed my frustration with the state of food offerings today, both in America and France (and undoubtedly all other developed nations). Our eating habits are becoming increasingly warped over time and I am endlessly shocked by how rapidly the quality of food in France is deteriorating. After all, they have the highest rate of pesticide use in Europe! Gross.

But the latest “healthy” development to come out of the US is enough to send me into a fit. Smart Choices is a new food-labeling campaign supported by the US’s largest food manufacturer’s “designed to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices.” A sexy green check mark will appear on a variety of different nutrient enriched products from fruit loops to Hellman’s mayonnaise. What is wrong with people? I mean seriously. This kind of thing burns me up because it proves where the FDA’s interests lie – don’t talk about obesity and heart disease as serious problems if your proposed remedy is reassuring parents that Fruit Loops is an acceptable option.

Proponents of the plan argue that Fruit Loops is a better option than many other cereals out there and by adding the Smart Choice check mark, they are leading parents in the right direction. How about you put a big fat check mark on the fruits and vegetables section of the supermarket and on Kashi cereal? And other natural, no-added sugar cereals? At least in France they sell the bad stuff but don’t pretend that it’s somehow healthy. There are too many uneducated and easily swayed individuals in the US (remember the election?) for this NOT to wreak havoc. “Oh, regular Skippy peanut butter is GOOD for me and my family!” and so continues the problem. It boils down to education. If this is how the government intends to encourage education of healthy eating habits then the problem is even more serious than a bowl of sugary cereal.

UPDATE: How Sugary Cereal Makers Target Kids (Time)
UPDATE: Companies to Discontinue Smart Choices (how surprising)

Update: By December of 2009, only 2 months after writing this post, I stopped eating Kashi. As much as I love them, and love the taste, they use too much sugar in their cereals to constitute a legitimately healthy breakfast option. Many of the Barbara’s Bakery cereals are lower in sugar and I opt for those.