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Tony the Tiger died from Diabetes.

Posted on Jan 5th 2008 7:33AM by Martha Edwards

Filed Under: Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements

Frosted Flakes aren't as Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! as Tony the Tiger would have us believe, apparently. Forgive me for the slightly outdated news, but apparently Tony passed away in November as a result of complications due to Type 2 diabetes, which he developed by eating nothing more than sugary cereal and milk. One of the main ingredients in Frosted Flakes is the dreaded (and sometimes deadly) high fructose corn syrup.

It's a sad end for the furry guy, who was once pitched as a sports mentor for kids. But really, how can you be a both a healthy mentor and a spokesperson for a sugar-laden cereal? Talk about contradictions.

Perhaps the tiger should have taken advice from Sid the Cookie Monster and made Frosted Flakes a 'sometimes' snack.

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Tags: frosted flakes, FrostedFlakes, high fructose corn syrup, HighFructoseCornSyrup, kelloggs, Tony the Tiger, TonyTheTiger

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ted Z. 1-06-2008 @ 12:10AM

Well, now this is just patently ridiculous. If you so much as looked at a Frosted Flakes label, you'd see that a serving has 11 grams of all sugars -- about average for any kids' cereal, and less than you'd find in some "healthy" cereals such as raisin bran, Blueberry Morning, or most flavors of Quaker oatmeal. (Or in six ounces of orange juice, for that matter.) What's more, just a fraction of that is in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, which appears fourth in the ingredient list, between malt flavoring and salt. (The article you linked to claims that a cup of the cereal has 36 grams of corn syrup, which anyone can see is outrageously wrong -- maybe he meant to say 3.6 grams.)

Sure, it would be better if kids ate cereals with more fiber and less added sugar, or if manufacturers spent more of their advertising budgets on healthier choices. But among all the junk kids eat these days, the 110 calories in a serving of cereal is not what's making them overweight or increasing their risk of diabetes. And a bowl of Frosted Flakes with milk is still better for them than not eating any breakfast at all.

It bothers me how often writers on this blog simply quote from other sites or blogs without analyzing whether or not what they say is based on fact. That's irresponsible, especially on a health site.