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Hundreds Protest Food Additives at WK Kellogg Co’s Battle Creek, Mich., Headquarters

Oct. 16, 2024
Red dye 40 and BHT were the main culprits; protestors say the cereal company promised to remove them six years ago.

Hundreds of protesters appeared outside WK Kellogg Co’s Battle Creek, Mich., headquarters yesterday (Oct. 15) to protest the cereal company’s continued use of dyes and preservatives that some consider to be harmful.

Red dye 40 and preservative BHT were the main elements that medical professionals, protesters and social media influencers spoke about, according to local News Channel 3. Doctors who spoke said these dyes and preservatives can cause learning disabilities and cancer.

Local news reports said the former Kellogg Co. promised in 2015 it would remove all artificial colors and flavors from its cereals by 2018, a pledge that apparently has not been upheld. However, it has replaced the color additives in other countries, some of which ban the ingredients. And while the FDA considers them safe, they’re at the top of an agency to-do list, as FDA tries to create a process for post-market review of ingredients that were deemed safe decades ago.

The protestors brought boxes full of petitions that they claimed had more than 400,000 signatures. When she was not allowed to enter the building and present the petitions, Vani Hari – remember her as The Food Babe? – one of the organizers, suggested a boycott.

“No one should eat Kellogg’s anymore, buy anything from Kellogg’s from this point forward,” she told News Channel 3. “They lied to us, and no one’s holding them accountable.”

WK Kellogg Co issued a statement to News Channel 3:

“The quality and safety of our foods is our top priority. Our products – and the ingredients we use to make them – are compliant with all applicable relevant laws and regulations and we remain committed to transparently labeling our ingredients so consumers can easily make choices about the food they purchase.

“Today, more than 85% of our cereal sales contain no colors from artificial sources. In fact, we continuously innovate new cereals that do not contain colors from artificial sources across our biggest brands, offering a broad choice of nourishing foods for our consumers. This approach is consistent with our commitment to meet evolving consumer preferences.”

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.

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