NPR reports today that Frito-Lay has rolled out a slightly reformulated version of its popular Flamin’ Hot Cheetos that qualify the spicy orange sticks as a “Smart Snack” under revised federal nutrition guidelines for schools.
New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told NPR she’s not surprised. “If you set up nutrition standards,” she said, “the food industry can do anything to meet those standards, and this is a perfect example of that. So this is a ‘better-for-you’ junk food and, of course, the question is, is that a good choice? And no, of course, it’s not.”
In other words, the government decides to set up nutrition standards, snack makers do what they have to do to meet those standards, and then the government complains that that’s not what they had in mind. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos a “Smart Snack”? Take it up with FLOTUS.
@nprnews delicious yes. smart hardly.
— Maryse (@justmaryse) March 28, 2015
@nprnews Smarter than WHAT?
— Michelle Rose (@KentInstitute) March 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/TMA7/status/581871116714528768
@nprnews @brianloveswords They're missing the "flaming" part.
— Thomas Reggi (@thomasreggi) March 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/AaronBBrown/status/581878403726323712
@nprnews You got to be kidding me. Ughh We don't have a clue about nutrition!
— FreedomFighter1979 (@Nastyness61) March 28, 2015
@nprnews ~ cha ching! BIG business baby.
— Mary Lonergan Art (@marylonerganart) March 28, 2015
@naugusta @nprnews Vegetables, right?
— Robert W. Mann, Jr. (@RWMann) March 28, 2015
@RWMann @nprnews I don't know. My call to the First Lady has had no response. LOL
— Nicholas Augusta ✯ (@naugusta) March 28, 2015
@naugusta @nprnews Ha! They may need ketchup to qualify…
— Robert W. Mann, Jr. (@RWMann) March 28, 2015
@RWMann School lunch was so much better when I was growing up.
— Nicholas Augusta ✯ (@naugusta) March 28, 2015
@naugusta Same here.
— Robert W. Mann, Jr. (@RWMann) March 28, 2015
.@RWMann Welcome to our generation. When common sense was just that. Common.
— Nicholas Augusta ✯ (@naugusta) March 28, 2015
Spice stimulates metabolism, studies show. RT @nprnews Guess What Makes The Cut As A 'Smart Snack' In Schools? Hot Cheetos.
— Erick Sanchez ? (@erickmsanchez) March 28, 2015
“I thought the top sellers might be things that had more nutrients in them than Flamin’ Hot Cheetos,” confessed Virginia Stallings, who chaired the committee that helped formulate the federal rules.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member