7 cereals that aren’t ‘healthy’ under FDA proposal

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently proposed updating the definition of “healthy” that foods can use on their nutrition labels.

According to the FDA, more than 80 percent of Americans eat too many added sugars, saturated fats and sodium, and not enough fruits, vegetables and dairy.

“Nutrition is key to improving our nation’s health,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement announcing the proposal. “Healthy food can lower our risk for chronic disease. But too many people may not know what constitutes healthy food. FDA’s move will help educate more Americans to improve health outcomes, tackle health disparities and save lives.”

In order to label itself as “healthy,” a food product, among other things, would have to meet limits on saturated fats, added sugars and sodium. For breakfast cereal, CNBC determined, three-quarters of an ounce of whole grains could contain no more than 1 gram of saturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium and 2.5 grams of added sugars.

Based on these limits, seven popular cereals would no longer be able to put a “healthy” label on their boxes:

• Raisin Bran: 9 g of added sugars
• Honey Nut Cheerios: 12 g of added sugars
• Corn Flakes: 300 mg of sodium and 4 g of added sugars
• Honey Bunches of Oats, Honey Roasted: 8 g of added sugars
• Frosted Mini Wheats: 12 g of added sugars
• Life : 8 g of added sugars
• Special K : 270 mg of sodium and 4 g of added sugars

“Healthy eating patterns are associated with improved health, yet most people’s eating patterns do not align with current dietary recommendations,” Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in the statement. “(W)e continue to advance a number of FDA initiatives and explore new ways to coordinate, leverage and amplify important work going on across the nutrition ecosystem to help improve people’s diets and make a profound impact on the health of current and future generations.”