Cereal mascots given reprieve

A long, on-going controversy has been over the use of cartoon characters to market cereal, especially sugared ones targeted to children. The fear for manufacturers has been that the government would step in and regulate this, and ultimately prevent the use of mascots and other enticing images for children.

The industry can sigh a temporary breath of relief, as U.S. government officials recently indicated that they won't tamper with these brand icons at this time. Nevertheless, things could still change down the road, and at minimum there is still the possibility of further restrictions on nutritional composition of foods targeted to children, even if in the form of voluntary guidelines.

In any case, Tony the Tiger, Cap'n Crunch and others are safe, for now at least!

(Source: USA Today)