Only four percent (4%) of voters nationwide agree with the federal Food and Drug Administration that the popular breakfast cereal Cheerios should be regulated as a drug. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 87% disagree and oppose such regulation.

Survey participants were told that the FDA made its claim because the cereal is advertised for use in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of disease (see question wording).

A letter from the FDA to General Mills, the makers of Cheerios, said the company's advertising makes "unauthorized health claims" which means the cereal should be regulated as a drug. As a result, the FDA declared that Cheerios "may not be legally marketed with the above claims in the United States without an approved new drug application." The government agency added that "enforcement action may include seizure of violative products and/or injunction against the manufacturers and distributors of violative products."

When told of Cheerios' claim that it can help reduce cholesterol, just three percent (3%) of voters say the cereal should be removed from the grocery shelves and sold only in pharmacies.

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On the broader question of government regulation of cereal, just 13% believe more regulation is needed while 69% disagree.

Forty-five percent (45%) say health claims made on food packaging have no impact on their decision to buy the product. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it makes them more likely to purchase while 17% say less likely.

At the height of the peanut butter salmonella scare in February, a substantial majority of Americans (83%) still were confident in the safety of the food they bought in grocery stores. Only 14% said they were not very or not at all confident of food safety.

In a survey two years ago, 60% of Americans had a favorable view of the FDA, 36% an unfavorable one.

The good news for the FDA in the latest survey is that just 14% of voters nationwide are closely following the Cheerios story.

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