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At the rally, Food Babe calls for a boycott after Kellogg refuses to meet

Posted on by Kennedy
At the rally, Food Babe calls for a boycott after Kellogg refuses to meet

BATTLE CREEK – A rally and march to protest artificial colors and preservatives in cereal ended Tuesday with children chanting and a rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” outside Kellogg's headquarters.

At 10:30 a.m., a crowd gathered in Friendship Park and listened to several speakers for about an hour and a half before marching to Kellogg's, where organizers said they would present more than 417,000 signatures in support of the effort.

Author and food activist Vani Hari, also known as Food Babe, launched the nationwide petition calling on Kellogg's to remove artificial colors and the preservative BHT from its cereals in the US

“American food companies deliberately use ingredients here that they have removed due to stricter regulations and to avoid warning labels abroad. This isn't just about ingredients, it's a moral question. “This is unethical and must stop,” Hari said in a statement before the event.

Hari was the last speaker to address the crowd before the march began around noon.

“This will be the largest petition ever collected against the food industry,” she said during a livestream of the event. “Kelloggs, if you’re listening, please let us in, you can’t turn your back on these many voices.”

Children holding signs with slogans such as “Stop Poisoning Us” were invited to stand alongside speakers during the event.

Protesters chanted “Let us in” and “No more dyes” as they approached Kellogg's headquarters, with passing motorists honking at times.

A member of corporate security refused entry to Hari and several others, but said they would bring the boxes containing the signatures to the tour.

At 12:30 p.m., the children present were invited to the front of the crowd and began chanting, “Let us in.” The chant changed to “Shame on you,” then to “Bankruptcy,” then to “Do what's right.” is,” before the national anthem played.

“From this point forward, no American should buy Kellogg products,” Hari said on the livestream. “They could have been the heroes today, they could have done what they are doing in virtually every other country… I hope these petitions continue to grow, we will not stop… and we will lead the boycott against Kellogg.”

Following the rally and march, Kellogg issued the following statement to the Enquirer:

“We respect everyone's right to express their opinions and have received Ms. Hari's petition, which we will review and forward to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government agency that regulates the use of these ingredients.”

In response to a request from the Enquirer for comment before the rally, Kellogg responded:

“The quality and safety of our food is our top priority. Our products – and the ingredients we use to make them – comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and we remain committed to transparently labeling our ingredients so consumers can easily make decisions about the foods they purchase.

“Today, more than 85 percent of the cereals we sell contain no artificial colors. In fact, across our largest brands, we continue to develop new cereals that contain no artificial colors and offer our consumers a wide variety of nutritious foods.” “This approach is consistent with our commitment to meet evolving consumer preferences.”

(This story has been updated to add new information and change or add a photo or video.)

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