“What exactly ails you today? Well, whatever it is, I got your cure. Right here. Yep, my all purpose tonic. Cures what ever you’ve got.”^[1]

Such admonitions of instant health remind me of those charming 19th century period pieces in which a hack shaman toils about the Wild West searching for some sucker to take him up on his offer to be free of every illness once and for all. Of course, the story ends with the unfortunate “patient” a few bucks poorer and purveyor of the dubious claim laughing all the way to the bank. 

This scenario also comes to mind given the recent events surrounding General Mills (based here in MN), the makers of Cheerios. The FDA is launching an all out PR campaign against the company, alleging false claims on its box of oats. Citing claims of an “seriously inappropriate” nature, the FDA warns that the cereal’s boast of the ability to lower one’s “cholesterol by 4 per cent” constitutes that of the nature of drugs awaiting approval by that body — in essence, becoming a pharmacologic agent in the process. The FDA is giving General Mills 15 days to come up with a reason for the promotion of the claim. 

And in (possibly) related news, General Mills stock rose $.74 yesterday. | LINK

1. The inspiration for this post comes from the video for “Say Say Say” (#1, 1983) by Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney. [↩]

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