The Attorney General of Texas Says Kellogg’s Is Lying to You About Cereal Health Claims

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants you to take a long, hard look at your cereal box. 

In early April, Paxton released a statement alleging that cereal giant WK Kellogg Co violated “Texas consumer protection laws” after the company advertised several of its products as “healthy.” WK Kellogg Co — colloquially known as “Kellogg’s” — is the North American company that was spun off from Kellanova, previously titled the Kellogg Company, in 2023.

“A critical part of fighting for our children’s future is putting an end to companies’ deceptive practices that are aimed at misleading parents and families about the health of food products,” Paxton says. “Artificial food colorings have been shown to have disastrous impacts on health, and in no world should foods that include these dyes be advertised as ‘healthy.’”

Here’s what you need to know about the investigation. 

Why is the attorney general of Texas investigating Kellogg’s? 

Paxton’s office specifically points to “cereals such as Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes, and Rice Krispies” as prime targets in the investigation, noting that the brand often touts these cereals as “healthy” choices.

However, the office takes issue with this claim as it says the cereal company continues to use “petroleum-based artificial food colorings,” which the attorney general explains have been linked to health issues like “hyperactivity, obesity, autoimmune disease, endocrine-related health problems, and cancer in those who consume them.”

“There will be accountability for any company, including Kellogg’s, that unlawfully makes misrepresentations about its food and contributes to a broken health system that has made Americans less healthy,” Paxton adds. 

What does the science say? 

Paxton’s office isn’t wrong about the connection between artificial food colorings and hyperactivity. 

A 2007 study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Lancet showed that artificial colors and the preservative sodium benzoate can cause increased hyperactivity in children. 

A more recent review of research in 2022 on the connection between blue food coloring and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) symptoms in kids concluded: “The studies that were reviewed in this article show that diet, especially consumption of artificial food coloring, produces statistically significant increases in ADHD symptoms in children.”

“The evidence now shows pretty conclusively that when some kids eat these, they will experience nervous system effects that look like ADHD,” Thomas Galligan, a scientist who focuses on food additives at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told NPR in 2023. “There are 27 human clinical trials that show these dyes do, in fact, harm children’s behavior.”

More research is needed to determine if artificial dyes are connected to cancer, although some dyes do contain contaminants that are possible carcinogens. Red Dye No. 3 has been most clearly shown to increase the risk of cancer but is not used in Kellogg’s cereals.

Which dyes are actually in these cereals? 

According to Paxton, the cereals listed in his investigation include “blue, red, yellow, green, and orange artificial food colorings.” 

In 2015, Kellogg’s pledged to remove artificial colors and flavors from all its cereals and snack bars by the end of 2018. “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, then president of North American operations for Kellogg’s, shared at the time, as reported by USA TODAY. “Our goal is to complete this transition by the end of 2018.” 

However, as Paxton’s office points out in its press release, while Kellogg’s has reformulated these cereals in Canada and Europe to meet stricter ingredient standards, the same products remain largely unchanged in American grocery stores. 

In October 2024, protestors stood outside the cereal company’s Michigan headquarters to demand that it make good on the promise. Following the protest, Kellogg’s shared in a statement: “Today, more than 85% of our cereal sales contain no colors 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.”

Texas isn’t the only state addressing food dyes

This investigation comes at a time of increased scrutiny toward artificial dyes in America’s food supply. 

In January, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned Red Dye No. 3 in food, beverages, and ingested drugs in the United States. The dye must be removed from food products by mid-January 2027 and from ingested drugs in 2028.

This ban was based on the authority of what’s known as the Delaney Clause, part of the Food Additives Amendment of 1958. “The Delaney Clause is clear; the FDA cannot authorize a food additive or color additive if it has been found to cause cancer in humans or animals,” Jim Jones, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, said in a statement about the ban.