What's Up With Kelloggs?

If you haven't heard by now, people are protesting Kelloggs and it's gaining a lot of attention! In this quick episode we will break down what is happening and our thoughts about it.

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM!

Featured Mocktails:
Drink Wholesome - https://www.instagram.com/drinkwholesome/
Electrolytes Powder Plus - https://www.instagram.com/powdervitamin/

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

Baylee: 0:23

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey.

Brianna: 0:27

And this is Brianna.

Baylee: 0:29

This week, I am drinking What am I drinking? I don't know why it's so hard for me to remember sometimes. Oh, I put in it the Lemon Cure, and then I did the Blueberry Drink Wholesome, mixing brands. I don't do that with my clothes, but I will do it with my electrolytes.

Brianna: 0:47

I'm just doing the electrolyte powders plus still strawberry Kiwi flavor. I like that. I like that you can get it on Amazon. And honestly, all the flavors I've tried so far have been so good. So

Baylee: 0:58

I thought you were branching out on your flavors.

Brianna: 1:00

I know I just, I haven't finished it yet, but next time I'm going to do something wild.

Baylee: 1:05

Okay,

Brianna: 1:06

something I don't ever do.

Baylee: 1:07

orange.

Brianna: 1:09

Yeah, maybe I'll do orange and like not great. I draw the line at great, but I see one. Yeah.

Baylee: 1:14

Yes, well today we're going to do a short and sweet episode. Some of you may have seen the uprising of Kellogg's boycotts. Some of you may not, so we thought we would just tackle this today because we actually did mention food dyes in a recent episode and kind of our thoughts on it, and we felt like we needed to clarify some things.

Brianna: 1:34

Yeah. And so I, cause I feel like we naturally, we don't eat a ton of food dyes, but I, maybe that's just because we're dietitians and we just, you know, not to say whatever, but a lot of people do. It's in a lot of products. We're talking like, you know, the red dye 40 yellow, five blue, whatever the blue color is, but basically what everyone is thinking. Demanding at this point that Kellogg's take out of their cereals out of there. I think it's the Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks. I don't know about any other ones, but for sure.

Baylee: 2:06

those are

Brianna: 2:06

said,

Baylee: 2:08

those are like the main ones that keep being brought up, especially like the fruit loops. And I guess like the main dyes that we're looking at right now are the red dye number 40 and yellow dye number five. So I mean, really it all started from what I understand. So what's her name? Vanny Hari, something like that. She's known as a food babe on Instagram, but she had like wanted to meet with Kellogg's and kind of just like have a sit down meeting and Straight to the point, they said no, apparently.

Brianna: 2:43

no, because they had already said they were going to remove it. Like,

Baylee: 2:47

yes, in like 2015, like they were supposed to be removed, they said that in 2015, they were supposed to be removed by like 2018. Clearly it didn't happen in the United States. So like in other countries, the cereals were adjusted. So like Fruit Loops, what's it, in Canada, their color is from blueberry juice, carrots, and like watermelon juice. We're here. It's like through the dyes. So I mean, it does look different. And I think that's also why when you make things at home, they don't always like, look the exact same as if you were to buy it. Because you're

Brianna: 3:26

as vibrant. They're not as like, You know, and I think what it is is like Kelloggs is really standing by the fact that like, this makes our products look the best and they're deemed safe in the U S and so I think what a lot of these countries do, I mean, a lot of these companies do and technically rightfully so, but then it's like, well, let's talk about the transparency and like. Of these companies, but they're saying like these food dyes are safe for consumption in the United States based off of, you know, the FDA and all this. And so they're like, we don't want to change it, but they change it in other countries because other countries have noticed like, these can lead to things like, increased behavioral issues with children or, or things like that. And so other companies have either taken it out or made them make the switch or they make them do like a front of package warning. So, you know, like if you were to look at Fruit Loops in like Europe, for example, I think they still technically use red dye 40, but in a lower amount, but on the front of the package, it'll say warning, this food contains this, that can be linked to this. And it's more of a, like helpful to consumers because. When you read the boxes in America, it's like, oh, a good source of this and like, good for healthy bones. And so parents are like, okay, cool. Like my kids will eat it. It's quick. It's cheap. It's great. And then you look at the packaging and other countries and there's just like that extra warning that kind of makes you be like, okay, do I want to give this to my kids? Or it gives you like a more informed decision.

Baylee: 4:52

Yes. And I think that's the most important part about all this. I mean, even let's take Cheerios, for example, they are marketed as being like heart healthy, lowering cholesterol, even though some of them have a bunch of added sugars into it. But they're saying heart healthy and lowering cholesterol because they have soluble fibers. Part of the job of soluble fibers to help remove excess cholesterol. So it's things like that, that we are putting on the front of boxes and it draws us in and that's why I've made a post about it before, where just look on the back of it, just ignore what the front of the packages look on the back. And then, yes, the key is to be. informed about what's going on, deciding what is best for your family, deciding like what's going to work for your budget. Because that's also the hard part is a lot of these foods are more budget friendly. Like, let's just be honest. A lot of them are. And so it's also not fair that if you like don't make a certain amount of money, you can't opt for these healthier choices. But then there's also the argument of, okay, if we're debating between like cereal and egg, you're going to get Way better ingredients from the eggs is just getting eggs and they're the same price. So, you know, it kind of goes both ways on deciding what do you want your life to look like? How do you want to feel? How, how do you want your house to run? And if it's like budget, something you work on, that's things that you can weigh out. Same thing, like you're debating on, I don't like a cheese danish versus Some like breakfast sandwiches, I would go with the breakfast sandwich because at least you know, you're getting some protein Even though if they're not the perfect ingredients, I would say that's the better option. So always kind of Like weighing out your options there and kind of making the best decision for yourself. so the food babe, she Did get like a petition started with over 400 000 signatures And that's where they're kind of doing that boycott. Tickle Protests.

Brianna: 6:47

Yeah. I'm the

Baylee: 6:49

But they are boycotting Hillog products. But they're protesting and then I saw too like Hillog posted a sign like get off my lawn or something like that. So it's interesting to see their reactions toward this when they have said in the past that they were going to get rid of these dyes And then I guess another part of it too Is removing BHT, bHT is basically, it's like a synthetic antioxidant, and it's used as a preservative in different food products. So, that's another thing that people are trying to get removed. That way, it's used so like your food can last longer, but it also changes in colors. And It does affect the flavor a little bit in foods, I believe, too, but it makes basically a lot of people are using it to extend the shelf life. So then, I mean, your product lasts longer in your pantry. so that's another thing that, people are trying to get away from. And then with the artificial dyes too, they actually can bind to proteins under certain conditions, which is why it is thought that they can contribute to like biological effects in the body. So then really the interaction between artificial dyes and protein, it does depend on the chemical structure of the dye and specific properties of the protein. from what my understanding, That's why like the focus is more on the red 40 and the yellow number five,

Brianna: 8:18

yeah. And like basically the, the impact that it can have on, you know, children, especially in developmental years. that sort of thing. And then, you know, I mean, it's, it's frustrating because major food companies like this, their first thing that they're going to go to is like, we make, you know like we make products that are available on a budget, but there's no reason why major food companies can't make, More budget friendly options that have less things in them that parents are asking for, you know, it's like, they're a major company. And honestly, just how we are in the U S is we are a free market. And so it's up to the consumer to know what you're buying, what the products, you know, what products are, what harmful effects that they can have, et cetera. And. It's not like that in other countries. And I think that's the major issue. And again, like I'm always talking about, like, are your companies transparent, right? Because there shouldn't be companies that are saying, we're going to take it out and then don't, or we're going to change things in other countries, which obviously we can't, and then they don't do it here when it's requested. Or. You know, I mean, Coca Cola does the same thing. Like people are like amazed to know that like, in a lot of the Latin America countries, there's a front on package label warning of Coca Cola of like, this has this much added sugar. And in some countries, Coca Cola has to put less sugar in their soda because the countries have demanded it. But like here, I don't know why it's just because of how we're set up, which is kind of crazy.

Baylee: 9:50

that is a good point to bring up is that other places they are more up front where yeah The pressure honestly gets put on us, which is even harder because If you're not in the nutrition world, if you're not a dietitian constantly studying food, yeah, it's like another thing you have to worry about. So I understand why people are getting so frustrated and now they're like, what the heck do I even do now? Everything I do is wrong.

Brianna: 10:15

It's like, if we were supposed to know this, shouldn't we be taught it in school? So we're

Baylee: 10:20

I mean it's like taxes.

Brianna: 10:22

Right. I'm like, two things are not taught in school, taxes or nutrition. Like, those are two things I feel like most people don't know anything about, right? And so it's, I think what's frustrating to me is they're just sitting behind the fact that, like, we're within our regulations, our guidelines to do it. And they're not, They're not challenging themselves to really give the consumers what they want or like listen to the consumer. They're just kind of like, we don't have to, so it's fine. And they make so much fricking money. It's ridiculous. They don't care.

Baylee: 10:53

Yeah, and like you said the idea behind it I mean for them is that in small amounts that it's deemed safe in studies and So I guess in their point of view it's kind of up to you as the consumer to decide how much you're going to consume So I think when we talked about it, we like briefly mentioned artificial dyes Or like natural flavor. So we've mentioned something along those lines in a previous episode where like, like we talked about at the beginning, we didn't, we don't really focus on them necessarily. And that is because when you are eating more whole foods, like your fruits, your vegetables, protein, like getting whole grains in, less processed foods, they're not going to have this in it anyways. So I would say naturally I intake less red dye, but Because I just don't, I don't, I don't even remember the last time I bought Froot Loops. Apple Jacks, maybe a couple years ago, but Like right now we do have cereal sitting in our pantry. It's the new Kelsey's cereal, but it's been in there for like three weeks Like it's just not a common thing. We have our house just products like that We do we have worked really hard to just focus really on Foods with better ingredients and that's something that I've kind of slowly transitioned to not only as a It got easier to manage my budget, but also as I gain more knowledge, just deciding what foods I want to include in my house and whatnot, what not to, and I think that honestly helps the budget because like, we don't buy a lot of snack food, to be honest, because a lot of our snacks, they come from like fruits and nuts. Like, it's not like we have lots of granola bars or. Like chips will have like maybe one bag in there at a time

Brianna: 12:38

Yeah.

Baylee: 12:39

And so like that part of thing has really helped to be able to buy higher quality foods Because those higher quality foods are going to impact us more in that positive way Rather than kind of i'd call them like filler foods where? And, like, Josh crags me up because, again, he's an adult. I'm not gonna micromanage everything he eats. And so, he'll be like, gummy worms, chips, and then a bowl of cereal. And he's like, I'm so hungry. I'm like, because all you're eating is carbs. Like, it's not doing anything for you.

Brianna: 13:13

Yeah. There's not much nutritional value there,

Baylee: 13:16

Yes. So, Yeah, and when you switch to more nutrient dense, you're actually, you're getting the benefits, you're getting full and satisfied, so you don't need as much, if that makes sense.

Brianna: 13:27

And honestly, I think and I don't know because. I need to look more into it, but I think a lot of the protests right now is kind of the agitation that a lot of the their products are used like at school, like in school breakfast, lunch, which, yes, cereal is a staple of the food, you know, lunch, breakfast program because of its whole grains and whatever their stipulations for like what qualifies for reimbursable is, in my opinion, not fantastic.

Baylee: 13:54

Not great.

Brianna: 13:55

Yeah, and so I know California just did a thing where like they banned these like I they banned them in foods that are sold at schools. every school has to start abiding by it by like 2027 or something crazy like that. They did this with soda before too. And I don't know if this is going to impact the reimbursable lunches or if it's just foods that they sell like in their vending machines or like if you can go and buy food. I don't know that I need to look more into, but I think that's the big thing for parents is like, For some people, it's the only option for their kids to go to school and eat school breakfast. Why is it these options? Which again, you know, we can go down the whole rabbit hole of like, why more harmful foods are more affordable. We will not, but you know, it's, I think it's, I don't know, to me, I'm just like, you're already doing it in other countries, people are trying to be more health conscious, you already said you would do it, then do it. And then the fact that they don't want to meet is like a problem, but excited that people are like going after this like major giant because yeah, you know, why can't there be more whole foods in schools?

Baylee: 15:04

exactly. And it's so hard because there's, we can go back and forth on so many things and nutrition. But yeah, at the end of the day, why wouldn't we make it easier on the consumer to feel confident in what they're consuming? So. I mean, I guess, within this episode, what we want you to take away from this is become informed, follow the science, take in information that's going to be supportive to you, do what works for your family, slowly make transitions because, yes, artificial dyes, they have been linked to hyperactivity in children, allergic reactions, and turn it Like you got autoimmune reactions and even just some other potential long term health risk And so yeah, it's not a bad thing to work to decrease But again as you do more whole foods, it's going to naturally decrease as well So and then yeah with that too Like even I would say before we kind of get in the nitty gritty of the dyes Looking at your added sugars that you're doing a lot of these products to also have a lot of added sugar So again, I think that's weird

Brianna: 16:17

start to be, yeah, if you start to be mindful of added triggers, you will cut a lot of this stuff out just automatically. And I think too, like, you know, just going back to like make those small changes, do the best you can. Like for me, you know, my son, he started going to like public school and he like really wanted to do school lunch. Like, it's like super cool. Now to get hot lunch. I don't know. It was never cool when I was a kid. Now it's cool. And so I know when he goes there, he's probably getting snack items that have a little bit more added sugar, a little bit more food dyes, things like that. But knowing that that's really might be, it's very small compared to what he could be eating because we don't do certain things like that at home. You know, like I know that there's parents are like, I don't want my kid to have anything. Like. The kid at the birthday party that like, can't have the cupcake or the juice because like, we don't do that. I'm like, if they're only eating it at a birthday party, we're probably okay. Right. It's like those foundational things, like what are we working on? More whole foods, less added sugar. And so if you have stuff in a small amount, okay, let's not stress about it too much, but yeah, there's something like you go look in your pantry and you're like, all my breakfast items, all my snack items, all this every day have a lot of these things in it. Okay, slowly, you know, it isn't, it's really hard to get away from all of it unless you're going to go be Amish. I don't know, actually, I don't know, like, do the Amish like shop at stores for snacks? I don't know. But, you know, unless you're making the majority of your own food, it is hard. And so, you know, trying to have better habits, but, you know, and also,

Baylee: 17:50

have really good food though. I will say that their pies are amazing

Brianna: 17:55

Delicious. And you know what? There's no artificial dyes

Baylee: 17:59

There is not

Brianna: 18:01

or natural flavor.

Baylee: 18:02

Yeah, there's no dairy in it either.

Brianna: 18:05

Perfect.

Baylee: 18:06

Yeah

Brianna: 18:07

Well, let's be Amish. No, but yeah. So if you haven't heard of this new kind of, I feel like if you're on TOK, you had to have, maybe not. It's just my algorithm, but look into it. See, and then this is where I would say as a consumer, unfortunately, you have to educate yourself, figure out what companies you do feel comfortable with.

Baylee: 18:28

Yeah, I will say another account we do like to follow is just ingredients. She does a really good job about like Comparing different products, explaining them, and showing you swaps where, Some accounts, I feel like, they just bash all these products that don't give you the solution. You're like, Okay, so I'm

Brianna: 18:45

Like, well, what do I do now?

Baylee: 18:47

Yeah. And she, you, will kind of give you swaps, so I think that's a really good account to follow, but yeah.

Brianna: 18:53

Yeah.

Baylee: 18:53

you, be educated.

Brianna: 18:55

She does like the normal product, a better swap and then a best. So then it kind

Baylee: 19:00

does

Brianna: 19:00

you like, what's my budget? What realistically can I do? Okay. How can I make better choices and then kind of way out. You know what you do. I like it. I it's helpful rather than just like you said, like following Bobby and being like, well, I can't eat anything. It's not Bob.

Baylee: 19:19

I do that. Yes. And then that's part of it, like, when you work with us, we kind of take, We, we are your brain almost at that point for those certain things because yeah, we help navigate these pieces for you and help you decide the hard things almost like what's best for you.

Brianna: 19:40

Help take some of the guesswork out of it. Cause it is overwhelming. I mean, it's overwhelming for us as dietitians that do it all the time. I can't imagine not having any nutrition background and being like, well, what do I do? Especially when all you want to do is make good choices

Baylee: 19:52

Yes.

Brianna: 19:53

your family.

Baylee: 19:53

All right. So that was our short sweet thoughts on the Kellogg's boycott right now. There you go. Hope you enjoyed this episode and we will be back next week. Bye everyone.