Originally published February 11 2015
General Mills caves to Food Babe's BHT petition in less than 24 hours
by L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
(NaturalNews) Big Food is surrendering to consumer demands faster than ever before. Food corporations are removing chemical after chemical from their food products, as the clean food movement pushes forward with diligence. Leaders of the clean food movement, like Vani Hari, "the Food Babe," are now exposing food products left and right, undressing the industry, speaking out about the dangers of mass-producing unnecessary chemicals in food products, as consumers are poisoned day after day, year after year.
The newest chemical on the Food Babe's radar is BHT, or butylated hydroxytoluene. Animal tests in other parts of the world have proven BHT to be toxic. Many European countries don't even allow companies to put this toxin in food products, but countries like the United States openly accept it. In fact, BHT is put in several American cereal brands manufactured by General Mills and Kellogg's.
Thankfully, a new petition started by the Food Babe has gone viral, reaching 30,000 signatures in the first 24 hours. To the benefit of all Americans, General Mills responded quickly to the Food Babe Army and all supporters of the clean food movement. Within 24 hours, General Mills responded on Twitter.
Here's the full statement from General Mills, caving to the Food Babe's BHT petition:
BHT is an FDA-approved food ingredient, but we're already well down the path of removing it from our cereals. This change is not for safety reasons, but because we think consumers will embrace it. We've never spoken with Vani Hari and she did not play any role in our decision. Many of our US Cereals do not contain BHT including: Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Trix, Kix and Lucky Charms. Our removal of BHT from cereals is well underway and has been for more than a year.
When interviewed by The New York Observer, Vani Hari, the Food Babe, called General Mill's response "hilarious" because she had received an email a few weeks back from the company.
"Before, it was, 'These ingredients were safe,'" Vani said. "Now it's, 'They're safe, but we're going to take them out.' This is the typical PR line to save face. They think I'll back off, but they still haven't given a timeline."
In the interview, Vani confirmed that BHT was nonexistent in the same kind of cereals in the European Union. "This is not something that's made up, or is exaggerated. I have pictures from all of the cereals that do not have this additive. We called General Mills and Kellogg's. I looked into the European Safety Database. This is true research that's been done on this additive."
Vani is NOT a lone food activist looking to stir up controversy. In the New York Observer interview, she revealed that she consults an inner circle of doctors and scientists who work alongside her for cleaner food and environment. "I have an advisory council now, and I consult with doctors and scientists before I launch a petition like this. I make sure I have all of my sources backed up, and I put them at the bottom of the post so everyone could go read the studies," Vani said.
Vani often compares US food products to the same kinds sold in Europe. "They have tighter regulations in Europe because they operate on a precautionary principle," Vani said. "There, products are guilty until proven innocent. Here's, it's the reverse."
"So what really upset me is this double-standard: They'll make the same product for a different country and make it safer for people across the globe, but not us. Everything from Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Golden Grahams to seemingly health-conscious cereals like Cheerios Protein and Wheeties and Wheat Chex."
So far, General Mills has caved to the petition, but Kellogg's has yet to respond. Both have yet to set a time table for removing BHT from their cereals.
To take part in the petition, sign here.
Sources:
http://observer.com
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