Special K - Controversy in Europe

Controversy in Europe

Denmark has outlawed the addition of vitamins in Kellogg's products since 2004. Danish health officials banned cereals containing added vitamins because, as they claimed, Kellogg's wanted to add extremely high levels of vitamin B₆, calcium, folic acid and iron, which would reach toxic levels when eaten on a daily basis. Young children risk liver and kidney damage, while the fetuses of pregnant women can suffer complications from the toxins. The Dutch television show Keuringsdienst van Waarde, in an episode aired on October 15, 2009, followed up one of Kellogg's Special K nutritional claims, namely the addition of iron. The show provided evidence that the iron was not nutritional ionic iron - as it occurs in natural foods like spinach - but was in fact metallic iron. A Kellogg's telephone helpdesk employee was not willing to discuss the ingredients of their products in general, claiming it was a company secret, although in the show the company was not confronted with the findings. The nutritional experts in the show (a university professor and a general practitioner) agreed that actual metallic iron should not be part of a diet, speculating that it might damage organs. After the airing, the Dutch food authority nuanced the claims made in the TV program, claiming there are no health risks as long as Kellogg's stays within the legal limits. They also challenged the claim that the cereal could contain 'shredded bikes', and responded that iron powder is suitable for human consumption.

The evidence provided during the show follow David Catz's description of an experiment by Dr. Babu George, Sacred Heart University, in which iron is extracted from cereals. The description dates from 1984. As a result of this experiment being published and inquiries being made to the manufacturers, some companies have replaced the metallic iron in their products with an iron compound such as iron(III) phosphate, also called ferric phosphate.