The US Food and Drugs Administration is getting serious flack today from commentators (Eye on FDA, Testcountry) over a 5 May warning letter telling General Mills that the popular cereal’s health claims are too drug-like.

A two-year-old marketing campaign claims that Cheerios can reduce cholesterol by 4% in 6 weeks. The FDA, which was responding to a complaint by the National Consumers League, had the option to send a less severe informal letter asking the company to change its labelling, according to the Eye on FDA posting.

Another federal body, the Federal Trade Commission told Kellogg’s earlier this year to stop claims that Frosted Mini-Wheats improved children’s attention spans, reports Bloomberg.

The FDA, which is reportedly trying to make its image more consumer-friendly under the new White House administration, may be suffering from internal growing pains. Officials at the agency’s headquarters “did not know, they were upset and said this was a field office that was freelancing,” a former FDA official told AdvertisingAge. A spokesperson for the agency who would not comment on the fracas directly told AdvertisingAge that “warning letters speak for themselves.”

Image: screenshot of Cheerios website earlier today.