Cindy Crawford, Eva Mendes Among Celebs Urging Kellogg’s to Stop Using Artificial Ingredients

Cindy Crawford attends as Ketel One Vodka, Tequila Don Julio, and Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur celebrate Miami Art Basel at Barneys New York's Anniversary Party at Nobu Miami in Miami Beach, Fla., on Dec. 9, 2023. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Ketel One

Nearly a dozen Hollywood stars have joined a nationwide boycott against WK Kellogg Co. over the past month.

Celebrities, including model Cindy Crawford and actresses Eva Mendes and Daniella Monet, are urging the popular breakfast cereal brand to end the use of artificial dyes and preservatives in its foods.

“I grew up on cereal. I still love it but I won’t eat @kelloggsus anymore after I found out that so many of the ingredients they use here in the U.S. are BANNED in other countries. Why? Because they’re harmful for children,” Mendes shared via Instagram on Oct. 8.

“We want what’s best for our kids,” Crawford wrote on Oct. 13. “And sadly, in America—companies like @kelloggsus are knowingly harming our kids by adding chemicals and dyes to foods.”

Monet took to her Instagram Stories last week to champion the campaign, spearheaded by Vani Hari, founder of the Food Babe blog, and Jason Karp, the founder and chief executive officer of the mission-driven private holding company HumanCo.

“This is a huge opportunity for us to make a change to our food system,” Monet wrote on Oct. 13.

“Manifesting that this movement creates an undeniable trickle effect amongst so many huge businesses that hold the power of so many Americans’ health in their hands,” the actress shared in a subsequent post.

Hari, a New York Times best-selling author and food activist, told The Epoch Times via email that celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Candace Cameron Bure, Gwyneth Paltrow, and several members of the Kardashian family, including Kim, Khloé, and Kourtney Kardashian, have also voiced support for the campaign.

“Our movement has been gaining incredible momentum over the last few weeks,” she said. “People are more fired up than ever.”

Artificial Ingredients

In August 2015, the Kellogg Company announced plans to eliminate artificial ingredients from its cereals and other select products.

“We have been working to remove artificial colors and flavors across Kellogg’s branded cereals and a variety of Kellogg’s branded snack bars as well as Eggo frozen foods,” Paul Norman, who served as the president of Kellogg North America at the time, said during a call with investors, per USA Today.

“Our goal is to complete this transition by the end of 2018,” he said.

In October 2023, the Kellogg Company split into two separate companies: the global snacking company Kellanova and WK Kellogg Co., which produces cereal brands in North America, such as Corn Pops and Frosted Flakes.

According to WK Kellogg Co.’s website, some of its fruit-flavored breakfast cereals, including Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, feature synthetic food dyes, including red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, and blue 1.

Some of the company’s cereals, including the two aforementioned brands as well as its strawberry-flavored Frosted Mini-Wheats and Special K Original Cereal, also contain BHT, or butylated hydroxytoluene. The lab-made chemical is often added to foods as a preservative “for freshness.”

Boxes of Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal are displayed in a Target store in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Nov. 16, 2022. Gene J. Puskar, AP

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), color additives “are safe when they are used in accordance with FDA regulations.”

The agency also indicates that chemical preservatives can be used in foods if they are “generally recognized as safe for such use” and “properly declared on the label of the food in which used.”

However, Dr. Ana-Maria Temple, a holistic pediatrician based in Charlotte, North Carolina, believes the FDA’s regulations aren’t stringent enough.

“More than 10,000 chemicals are allowed to be added to food in the United States, under the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the 1938 Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act,” she told The Epoch Times.

“An estimated 1,000 chemicals are used under a ‘Generally Recognized as Safe’ (GRAS) designation without FDA approval or notification,” Temple said. “Random consultants or company personnel designate a food as GRAS without any data or study requirements.”

A representative for WK Kellogg Co. told The Epoch Times via email that the quality and safety of its foods is its “top priority.”

“We ensure 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,” the statement reads in part.

The representative, who did not supply their name, added that more than 85 percent of the company’s cereal sales do not contain any colors derived from artificial sources.

“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,” the company said. “This approach is consistent with our commitment to meet evolving consumer preferences.”

Petition Against Kellogg’s

On Oct. 15, Hari and Karp delivered more than 400,000 petition signatures to WK Kellogg Co.’s headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, as part of an organized demonstration against the company.

Upon their arrival, Hari said protesters encountered a sign that read “Get Off My Lawn,” which was displayed in one of the windows of the company’s high-rise building.

“They refused to meet with any of us. Even a Kellogg’s shareholder and the elected officials who were there with us were denied a meeting. This is a slap in every American’s face!” the author said.

“They could have come out as the hero and done the right thing for American families, but instead, now they are facing a national boycott,” Hari added. “This will be seen as the biggest PR mistake by a food company in history.”

WK Kellogg Co.’s spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the company did receive Hari’s petition.

“We respect the right for all to express their opinions,” the company said in its statement, adding that it plans to review the petition and share it with the FDA.