FDA sends a clear message

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signaled a new stance on claims when it sent a  warning letter to General Mills.

The letter suggests Cheerios is making unapproved claims about cholesterol reduction and reducing the risk of heart disease. The FDA was quick to add that the action was “not to impugn Cheerios… a product that can be part of a healthy diet.”

Healthy Marketing Team Analysis:

Companies will need to be ever more careful as they use health claims to differentiate their products and substantiate their benefits.  In recent years mass market brands have been able to leverage their ‘hidden’ nutritional assets (see The Five Strategies in The Food&Health Marketing Handbook p 49)  by talking up the benefits of  existing ingredients. As national regulators (such as the FDA or FSA) have enabled general claims to be made on the strength of specific ingredients.

What to do next?

Considering the warning to Cheerios, brand owners must consider the strength of their claims and the level to which they can be substantiated - not just on the shelf, but also in PR and across the brand´s communication.  Brands need find alternative ways to differentiate - one popular route has been to leverage the healthy association which consumers make with certain ingredients and to work these into brand names products names and design - totally eliminating the need to make claims. As pointed out in Wennström´s FourFactors of Success p34: “Health claims are only one component of your health benefit communication” and “the key component is not the health claim but the way the benefit is explained to consumers.” See also FourFactors case study of Cheerios in The Food&Health Marketing Handbook p 102 - 104.

Our advice is that you must create a heart and mind winning differentiation for your brand as a way to avoid being totally in the hands of your country’s food regulator!