Thought Kashi was a small company that thrived on creating quality healthy natural and organic products? Sadly that’s not the case. Undergroundhealth.com exposes a lot of interesting facts about Kashi including the fact that they’re owned by Kellogg’s while they continue to pretend to be a small company. Even worse, their breakfast products were found to be riddled with genetically modified (GM) and pesticide loaded ingredients.
That’s why you need to be aware of the fact that “natural” or “organic” does NOT necessarily mean more nutritious and less toxic ingredients. It can sometimes be simply a way for companies to trick you into paying more for an equally unhealthy product.
Click here to read “Exposing Kashi cereal for the poison that it is”
Just Wow. I guess I need to research more when it comes to my breakfast cereals and “healthy” snacks.
Why do you think Kellogg’s and kashi offer so many coupons? That want us FAT and SICK and addicted to their chemical-laden products. It is not real food. It isn’t even food at all. Chemicals, fake colours, fake flavours.
I knew they were owned by Kelloggs… I’m a little surprised people were unaware.
But that being said.. this just goes to show that we absolutely cannot rely on marketing for information.
It doesn’t surprise me that it is owned by Kellogg’s. When Save On Foods / PriceSmart Foods had points coupons for buying 10 boxes of cereal, you could get Kellogg’s or Kashi varieties.
who cares…. everyone on here is here because they want to save money. If you really cared about the quality of what you eat you would grow it yourself
This isn’t news as most of the small and presumably healthier specialty foods co’s were gobbled up by the big boys in years past (just like we’ve seen with all the beverage co’s now being controlled by Coke or Pepsi). Stick with the basics and you’ll save a lot of money and time. I’d argue that these so called speciallty offerings, whether they be snack foods, drinks, yogurt, cereals or whatever aren’t necessarily any healthier for you anyway, but people are willing to pay an arm and a leg for them because the packaging looks better or traces or acai, quinoa or probiotic might be found on the list of ingredients. LOL….The big corps had this brilliant scam all figured out a long time ago when they started introducing organic “this and that” at super inflated prices to mainstream American moms who were afraid they might be poisoning their kids by feeding them food regular people eat.
This has been on the news for over a year now! lol Also ALL of Kellogg s products are riddled with genetically modified (GM) and pesticide loaded ingredients!!! My god! ALL of the products that you post coupons for are GMO products! Unless a product has a GMO Free badge on it it is GMO! So unless you check that and most people dont you are eating GMOs. All dairy, meat, cereals, pastas, baby foods EVERYTHING. This is not new news and it is not just Kelloggs!
Just bought my very first box ever – yesterday!! 🙁
Glad I had a coupon and didn’t pay full price as it’s hitting the garbage now!
I’m confused by this posting as it doesn’t seem to jive with other postings. The information is good, and should be shared, but why pick on Kashi and not other brands (ie. General Mills products)? …or what about deals on clothing that have been manufactured in Free Trade Zones (ie. the Philippines) with terrible human rights records? I’m wondering what the perspective of Smart Canucks is, I guess..
Interesting article and coincidentally I just finished a box of crackers and found dried adhesive bits in the bottom of the bag. Ew!
Heard about this on facebook,and wasn’t too fussy on their cereal,and the granola bars were too filling,with an off taste.
If they lied in their advertising, shame on them. I hope they are forced to publicly admit to their misleading ways.
However, please don’t push genetically modified food as poison. There is no proven science on it one way or the other. It’s murky at best.
I’m all for truth, but truth is independent of opinion.
Let’s keep in mind – It’s not so much that they ‘lied’ — that just over-used to buzz words “natural” and “organic”. which, is true: Their ingredients are natural and organic – when it says so.
But buyer beware always: Don’t be fooled by the buzz words.
A particular soft drink might be made from natural ingredients, but those ingredients, as natural as they are, might not be “healthy” perse. Mexican Coca-Cola for example. It’s made from cane sugar, and natural flavours. While it’s better than usual Coke (with HFCS and other additives) it’s STILL Coca-Cola and should be treated as such.
Treating Kashi cereal as “more healthy” is a perception the customer makes – Granted it influenced by the buzzwords, but not so sure that a.) it’s poison nor b.) false advertising.
I prefer jordans cereals to kashi. they often go on sale at wm for 2 or 3 bucks
How is this a deal? Now that this site is moving into anti-science fear mongering, I will be unsubscribing.
Oh, and by the way, GMOs aren’t poison. The overwhelming consensus of science is that GMOs are not harmful. One or two papers against GMOs are not a consensus. Anti-GMO nonsense like this article is bullshit
Sadly most of the companies out there lie about their products and mislead their customers… Just watch the Marketplace episodes of “all natural food products”, “all natural personal care products” and lousy label episodes and you’ll see what I mean… Beware: some of the things you’ll see will piss you off
http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/yourhouse
I realize you may have read the article recently, but this “news” is a year and a half old. I’m not sure how Kashi is “hiding” that they are owned by Kellogg’s. It says right on their website that they are a subsidiary of the Kellogg Company. Like Nessa23, this was something I was aware of and didn’t think of as a secret. And besides, the part about Kashi being founded 25 years ago as a (relatively) small company is true. They weren’t actually bought by Kellogg’s until 2000.
If you’re concerned about companies misleading you with marketing and labels designed to make you think their food is healthy, organic, all-natural, etc., then you should be skeptical of nearly everything that has that label, since so much of it is a marketing ploy to hoodwink customers, or at least cash in on a trend in “organic/natural/healthy/eco-friendly/etc” products.
GMO’s are banned in many countries. This alone makes we wonder what is wrong with them if so many are banning their use in foods.
That sucks 🙁 ..but then again I never buy into the whole organic, natural , environmental friendly , no preservatives added , non artificial , not from concentrate , pure etc etc garbage put forth by companies either ..its almost always a scam.
Just before we condemn the “manipulative” marketing of this so-called poison, how about we all go to our cupboards and see what kind of chemical- LAN processed foods we have stacked there. Better yet, how about we start with the products listed on this site? I come here for coupons, not an ethics lesson.
Grow all your own produce and raise all your own livestock if you want to personally control what is in your food. See how much fun it is to live like your great grandparents did. You should also test your property’s water, soil and air for contaminants as well. I am getting tired of all the fear mongering that goes on. When products have a long shelf life you know there are additives. Most of us live in a grocery store food supply culture that does their best for those of us who are not going to grow and raise our own food supply.
why are you posting this drivel? Associating GM foods with the headline ‘POISON’ is just junk-science run amok. What kind of website are you turning in to where the fact they are ‘hiding’ their true ownership is news?
Stick to deal and leave the anti’s out of it
How did any couponer not know that Kashi is pat of Kellogg’s? That’s hardly news and something that they have not gone to any length to hide from anyone (have you never used a coupon that included both Kashi AND Kellogg’s cereals? All the time.) I guess I did assume that they were non-gmo . . . but it was just an assumption on my part. I don’t remember ever hearing them say that in an ad or seeing it on a box. For the record, I’d much prefer to eat non-gmo and all organic, but I can’t afford it. Kashi is less sweet than Kellogg’s, so I settle for that small concession. But I don’t feel lied to, just a bit stupid for making assumptions.
Kashi is not “organic”. Organic is non gmo.
Not fair to pick on Kashi – and I knew about these reports from a while back.
Good luck to anyone who can actually go GMO-free!
Me, I still like a good cob of corn once in a while!
@ Tom
“Organic is non gmo”
I have my doubts about this claim. IMHO, this is no different than those “Product of Canada” or “100% natural” labels. The food co’s know exactly what they are putting into their products right down to the last molecule and will do the minimum req’d to satisfy the regulators.
I agree with some of the other comments here that Kashi is not an isolated case as pretty much all food (whether packaged or not) sold in major grocery chains comes from one of just a handful of large, deep pocketed food manufacturers.
I believe that their advertising illudes to this….’7 whole grains on a mission’? For Petes sake they are advertising that they buy their products from 3rd world countries that have little or no chemical and/ or food standards and we are surprised by this?
BUY CANADIAN. Atleast (even if you choose not to buy organic) the foods and chemicals are tested and regulated.
wtf??? Durr, gee, thanks for letting me know. And thanks for also letting me know it’s free slurpee day. You guys are true crusaders for health. *eye roll* c’mon, give your head a shake.
I normally just browse the blog but I felt the need to comment on this issue. For one, “organic” is not some “buzzword” or “scam”, the real scam is foods labelled “natural” because the word “natural” has no guidelines when it is labelled, simple as that. “Natural” can have GMO’s, pesticides, artificial flavours, anything it pleases since there are no guidelines or rules to the label. Certified Organic HAS standards unlike it’s “natural” counterpart where organic must have 95%+ content of organic ingredients, and food companies must follow the strict guidelines of no artificial fertilizers (like sewage sludge), genetically modified organisms, synthetic pesticides, and radiation as well as artificial sweeteners, colours, flavours, and preservatives.
To the people that said “GMO’s” are safe – then please show me a study where Monsanto or any other pro-gmo company did not have a say or a dollar put into the study. I don’t think injecting viruses, animal DNA, pesticides or other repulsive things into a plants DNA is necessarily the safest thing to consume. Oh, and since we are on the topic of GMO safety – why does virtually every developed nation (and even some underdeveloped) except Canada and the U.S.A. label or ban the disgusting ingredients? If it is so safe, why can’t we put a label in this country? The crap claims that it is more expensive if you label GMO’s are not true whatsoever. How come Nestle can label their water “gluten free” when it doesn’t even contain gluten or wheat for pete’s sake? Wouldn’t that cost extra money for the company, labelling gluten free when water never contains gluten? They need to get their priorities straight, obviously. Europe has completely rejected GMO’s because they do not decrease pesticide use like they claimed, it has actually increased and significantly at that because the bugs they are supposed to kill with the injection of the pesticide are actually becoming resistant to it. So once again, fail on GMO’s part.
Proposition 37 to label GMO’s in California only failed by a small margin because the chemical and big food companies (Monsanto, Dupont, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Pepsi, Coca Cola etc. etc. the list goes on) paid millions of dollars to mislead consumers with ads that targeted the campaign (sounds fishy to me). These chemical and food companies said it would increase food prices, which is funny, since when other countries started to label them or ban them completely their food prices never increased.
GMO’s and pesticides are killing off the bees in dramatic numbers, and if you need proof here is an article that shows recently that 37 million bees (yes 37 MILLION) died in Elmwood, Ontario, which the farmers are blaming the significant numbers due to neonicotinoid pesticides, as well as the decrease in bee populations in the U.S. and worldwide too, which is what led Europe to ban the dangerous pesticides:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/07/05/ontario_bees_dropping_like_flies_elmwood_beekeeper_blames_corn_pesticide.html
Even Albert Einstein said that if the bees were ever to die off (which at this rate of them dying, is absolutely scary), then we would have no more than 4 years to live since we are so dependent on them for food and pollination, his quote: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”. The smartest man who ever lived said it, so we should definitely take notice to the issue.
As well – what about the GMO companies’ torture on the farmers in India? These companies have no souls, and it proves it when over 250,000 farmers in India have committed suicide due to the fail of these crops, and losing money from them. The state in India, Maharashtra, has since banned the Bt cotton since it has caused such a huge problem, you can read the article here: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-09/india/33118430_1_cotton-seeds-bt-cotton-cotton-growing-states
Contrary to what the companies might claim, these seeds have not helped underdevoloped nations in any way, and have not increased crop yield, and instead have provoked more problems. India has proven you do not need GMO’s or herbicides to increase crop yields and make money from growing sustainable food: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/feb/16/india-rice-farmers-revolution
We do not need GMO’s or chemicals, the problem is not the lack of food, we actually make more than we need to supply the world, the problem is distribution and greed. The chemical companies of course want to claim this to make them feel like they are doing something good, when as usual, they have not, and that is why more and more countries are waking up and banning GMO’s, or at the very least labeling them.
We don’t need science, GMO’s, and pesticides to improve what Mother Nature has already done for us – the only reason they are now patenting our seeds and food is only so they can make quick bucks – and fast. If the creator of scandalous, toxic, dangerous and carcinogenic chemicals is in control of our food (Monsanto, other agri-business companies) and created these toxic chemicals: Agent Orange, DDT, Synthetic hormones and more dangerous chemicals that have been proven to kill and poison millions, then we know we have a problem.
There are some organic varieties of Kashi though, which means those would have to be non-gmo.