honestly i think that when your young, a bowl of fruit loops isn't going to kill you and come on, we all turned out okay. i think when you get older its about a choice and a commitment. when you're younger, yeah, its good to stay healthy too but that takes away a lot from childhood. i would have hated growing up with special K (my current cereal of choice).

I already knew that..

Even the company said it was a "smart choice" compared to a donut.  And that may be a true statement, but fruit loops still aren't the best choice for a kid to eat.  I'm not saying don't let your kid have fruit loops, but do it knowing it's sugar-coated junk food.  A smart choice would be bulgur w/berries and nuts.  A saturday morning cartoon choice is fruit loops.  Companies shouldn't pretend their junk food is healthy just b/c they want a chunk of the health food consumers' sales.  

The FDA's already starting to set stringent standards, and we'll be seeing changes in what food products can advertise themselves as in the near future.  There's really no reason to discuss what we want, personally, in forums.  It's in the works.

They're also thinking of adopting the British method of putting red, yellow and green dots next to things like sodium and fat content instead of just percentages for daily allowances.  It's like a quick reference guide for the average consumer so they can make wiser decisions.

Source: National Public Radio

Is the serving size a tablespoon?

Obviously you shouldn't eat Froot Loops on a daily basis, but I don't think they are terrible.  I only got sugary cereal about twice a year (usually on vacation or visiting grandparents) when I was a kid.  Cap'n Crunch is the best.

And then they wonder why we have an obesity problem here in the US. I think that the Smart Choice label should only be placed on foods that are organic, low in refined sugars, fats, and calories. This label should not be placed on red meats, or items high in complex carbohydrates.

O come on, did people actually think that some letters were going to make Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms healthy all of a sudden? I mean I've heard that Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which glitters with sugar, was part of a healthy, balanced breakfast. Seriously? I never fell for that as a kid. I knew putting sugar into Cheerios kind of negated the healthy part of it.

You also have to keep in mind that these standards probably count if you're doing the ONE serving; the 3/4 or one cup of cereal.  Many people don't follow that..

i think the only foods that should be marketed as smart choices are real foods, fruits, veggies, whole grains.

I don't think milk should be marketed as something you need everyday to make you healthy, it's a complete lie, if you look in to milk there are virtually no benefits, and tons of reasons not to drink it, but they push push push it as something that does the body great. Money should stay out of food, big corporations, you'll never get the right information on the foods you are consuming if the big money is paying the people who test the products to determine whether its good for you or not.

...Wow, this reeks of idiocy.  Not the fact that these things were labled "smart choice", but the fact that the author (and many commentors) missed out on why and just went straight to calling it a bad idea.  It says in the post even - these foods were labeled that based on calories per serving.  When you're a parent concerned with calorie intake for your child and you're in the cereal isle, you don't have time to check every box of cereal to compare them.  That little green label tells you a few cereals that have a fairly healthy calorie/serving ratio, and that makes it easy.  This was a good idea.  The thing that makes it bad are the people who don't know how to eat something by serving and take "smart chocie" to mean "this must be super healthy for me, so I can eat as much as I want!"

i dont know that anyone really believes sugary cereals are good for you. i stick to oatmeal now but i associate sugary cereal with my childhood. saturday morning cartoons wouldn't have been the same without a bowl of cocoa puffs.

People should just learn how to read nutrition labels instead of rely on labels like "Smart Choice."  If it is a smart choice, they ought to be able to tell why it is (or if not, why it isn't).  Food can't easily just be labeled "healthy" and "unhealthy."  High-caloric, fatty foods such as cream cheese can be healthy, after all... for an active person who has a high HDL/LDL ratio, whereas for a hypertensive/overweight/diabetic person, it would be something to stay away from.  People naturally associate high-calorie/high-carb with unhealthy, which is the wrong way to think.  Sugar isn't inherently bad for you.  It's bad for you if you have rate of sugar intake that is higher than the rate you metabolize it at, leading it to become stored as fat and decrease cell sensitivity to insulin (which eventually leads to diabetes).

I don't think they should be allowed to, but at the same time consumers always need to use common sense when choosing their products. If something doesn't look like its health food, it probably isn't. Froot Loops, Coco Puffs, Fudgesicles, and those things are just not health food. :p

And isn't there a law against false advertisement, anyway? Why does the FDA need to get involved before that changes? Just because its food? Its also advertisement. Even on the boxes in the stores, those green labels are advertisement.

Just like we're learning with that Kellogg diet thing, where you replace one or two meals with a bowl of cereal and that's supposed to be healthy for you. Because it's Special K. But, you can do that with any cereal and you'll lose weight, provided you don't binge on something because you're starving. It isn't good for long term and in my opinion, it isn't healthy. :/

Everyone complains that America is such an overweight nation, but how can we help it when junk food is being marketed to us as health food?