I guess we have to start getting prescriptions for this stuff, huh?

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Popular US breakfast cereal Cheerios is a drug, at least if the claims made on the label by its manufacturer General Mills are anything to go by, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said.

"Based on claims made on your product's label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug," the FDA said in a letter to General Mills which was posted on the federal agency's website Tuesday.

Cheerios labels claim that eating the cereal can help lower bad cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease, by four percent in six weeks.

Citing a clinical study, the product labels also claim that eating two servings a day of Cheerios helps to reduce bad cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, the FDA letter says.

Those claims indicate that Cheerios -- said by General Mills to be the best-selling cereal in the United States -- is intended to be used to lower cholesterol and prevent, lessen or treat the disease hypercholesterolemia, and to treat and prevent coronary heart disease.

"Because of these intended uses, the product is a drug," the FDA concluded in its letter.

Not only that, but Cheerios is a new drug because it has not been "recognized as safe and effective for use in preventing or treating hypercholesterolemia or coronary heart disease," the FDA said.

That means General Mills may not legally market Cheerios unless it applies for approval as a new drug or changes the way it labels the small, doughnut-shaped cereal, the FDA said.

General Mills defended the claims on Cheerios packaging, saying in a statement that Cheerios' soluble fiber heart health claim has been FDA-approved for 12 years, and that its "lower your cholesterol four percent in six weeks" message has been featured on the box for more than two years.

Aaron Broussard responds

Tim Russert went on the attack today to please the right wing apologists who had the nerve to fact check his impassioned outburst on MTP during the nightmare of Katrina. (Update-fact checking is fine, but to me this was callous) When you don't like what you hear-attack the messenger. Yes, you uncovered a distorted time line of events. A man who had experienced the pain of his friend’s mother’s death muddied the facts. Who did it hurt? All levels of government including the President and you can't have that. What was the end result? A man’s mother died. She’s gone. You cretins. How do you sleep at night knowing that? What did your investigation prove? Aaron Broussard got the facts wrong in an emotional outburst on national television. Way to go. I have posted videos that attacked most everyone involved in this fiasco. Everyone played a part in this but you would rather attack Broussard who witnessed the mass death of hundreds of people and the coldness of your own hearts couldn’t allow for him losing it. I probably can guess that not one of you shed a tear over anybody that lost their lives because of government ineptitude.

I wonder how many of these apologists have ever been in a catastrophe before? These fools see any attempt to put the blame at the door of the federal government as biased. Even Michelle Malkin who I disagree with on almost everything only had the nerve to post a brief article on the episode. I think she knew better than to get into the action herself because you know she would if she felt strongly about it.

To explain it to the tools. Tragedy like we saw with Katrina has a horrifying effect on you when you're in the middle of it. (I've been in two major earthquakes) When your friend's mother dies because of neglect you don't line up your talking points and crocodile tears to score political points.

Download | play -WMP Bittorrent-WMP

Download | play -QT Bittorrent-QT

Broussard was stunned today when Timmy replayed the segment and he attacked back. You decide on the merits of what he said both times he was on the show.

Broussard: "Listen, sir, somebody wants to nitpick a man's tragic loss of a mother because she was abandoned in a nursing home? Are you kidding? What kind of sick mind, what kind of black-hearted people want to nitpick a man's mother's death? They just buried Eva last week. I was there at the wake. Are you kidding me? That wasn't a box of Cheerios they buried last week."