TEXAS, USA — Some consumers are urging a popular cereal company to use better quality ingredients in its products sold in the U.S.
The Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services met Wednesday to discuss a variety of topics, including ways to encourage food production companies to create healthier options for consumers.
During that meeting, HumanCo founder and CEO Jason Karp testified, pushing for Texas to ban Kellogg’s “and any other anti-American companies” from public entities, including schools statewide.
“Very few Americans know that Kellogg’s sells a safer version of their cereals, without artificial food dyes or carcinogenic preservatives, in other countries,” Karp said.
According to Karp, Kellogg’s claims “American children prefer the brighter colors, and they will continue selling the more toxic version,” as long as current laws are unchanged.
So far, Karp said he and a group of fellow advocates have collected more than 450,000 signatures pushing Kellogg’s to use safer ingredients in the U.S.
A video of Karp was posted Wednesday to Instagram by Truvani founder Vani Hari and has already received thousands of comments and reactions.
“BIG FOOD WATCH OUT. We have a revolution here,” Hari wrote in the post’s caption. “We will hit this issue from every single angle possible. We cannot be stopped.”
During the committee meeting, State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) also shared concerns about companies using different ingredients in the U.S. versus overseas.
“Why are foods in Europe different than foods in America, but we have the same companies making it?” She asked. “I don’t know the answer to that.”
Cereal restrictions in the U.S. and England
Since 2022, England has followed restrictions limiting the promotion of foods with high levels of sugar, salt and fat. Meanwhile in the U.S., breakfast cereals are only limited when it comes to added sugars.
If Texas were to get rid of all Kellogg’s cereals in schools, it wouldn’t be the first state to do so. However, earlier this year, California banned Froot Loops in schools because of the cereal’s additives.
Just last month, protesters – including Karp – gathered at the Kellogg’s headquarters in Michigan to urge the company to remove its artificial dyes.