In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of own brands trying to capitalize on the popularity of Kellogg's corn flakes. We want shoppers to be under absolutely no illusion that Kellogg's does not make cereal for anyone else. We're constantly looking at new ways to reaffirm this and giving our golden flakes of corn an official stamp of approval could be the answer."
This way, when you're eating one of the most boring cereals of all time, you can be sure that it's the real thing, not some cheap knockoff.
The internet has viewed this with skepticism, with our estranged family member Gizmodo writing, "There's a fair chance this is a joke. Dear god, tell me this is a joke." So we called Kellogg's to ask if this was a joke, and they said it's not happening... yet: "Kellogg's UK has no immediate plans to roll out this initiative — although exploration of the capability was underway. In the US, we have no plans to roll out this initiative."
Although we're not really enthused about this use, we're eager to see what other applications laser-etching will have on food. We're picturing going out to dinner and the waiter bringing plates of food that have each diner's face blasted onto the steak.
We will keep you updated on the development of laser gastrolexicology. If any UK readers spot these monogrammed Corn Flakes in the wild, please send us a picture and, if you purchased them, a taste test.
Thanks, Tony!
]]>If Kellogg's wants my business, cut the HFCS. And the price. I can pay half the cost for twice as much of non-HFCS store brand corn flakes. No amount of branding or coupons will get me to buy the Kellogg's.
]]>My first reaction, (glanced at the pic but not the headline at first) was oh no, another article about bugs in food! I'd probably toss my the whole box if I saw this before coffee thinking it'd been sitting on the shelf too long
]]>@From the cubicle of PGibbons: Huh? Attractive? where was that in the article?
]]>Cereal port is full. Can't load breakfast.exe..
]]>@redskull: I keep making my own Cocoa Puffs but General Mills gets up set when I call them that.
]]>Is this a little something like printing the Bible on the head of a pin?
]]>I would have never known!
]]>But they somehow have all the time in the world to present in-depth reporting about You Tube videos and lame tea-bagging parties.
Priorities, Kelloggs!
]]>This is how American business tells the world that they have so much excess food it has to be "laser etched" to make it attractive enough to eat? That is, the stuff they don't wastefully turn into fuel or dump on Mexican markets.
This sort of nonsense makes The Onion redundant.
]]>He was here first.
]]>An article in the NY Times described laser etching fruits 'n veggies so scanners could ID 'em ~ sort of a UPC code, as I recall. This WORKS for ME ~ who doesn't hate peeling off those idiotic stickers on fruits 'n veggies? Whoever invented those should be (insert your preferred method of death).
]]>Seriously, this is very off-putting: I do not want one more reminder that my food is an artificial product of technological processes.
]]>..ultimately the price hike for something as silly as etching a corn flake will drive me to buy from the more reasonably-priced competition that is cheaper.
I'm also sure at some point a scientist will surmise that the the etched corn flakes cause cancer.
]]>Although, I think it would have sufficed for Kelloggs to just, you know, put out a statement to the effect.
]]>/shows himself out.
]]>How about a direct approach? Like "Kellogg does not make, distribute, or produce blah, blah, blah..." on their packaging? Listerine and many other brands that have seeming store-brand counterparts do this.
Or is this simple and straight-forward approach just too preposterous for, you know, being straight-forward, explicit, and inexpensive?
]]>I'm buying Post for three months because of this
]]>This is the kind of ridiculousness that ends up making products more expensive. Every time someone proposes a little more regulation for product safety, or even when a company has to pay a fine for violating exisiting regs, there's a whole chorus about how that's actually bad for consumers because, clearly, the company's increased costs will get passed on to the customer.
Next time that gets mentioned, I'm going to think back to the lasered corn flakes. If corporations have the $$ to blow on stuff like this, we shouldn't assume that any costs imposed by the govt are automatically going to translate to higher prices.
]]>So if Kellogs wanted to make corn flakes for a store brand, what? They couldn't just turn off the laser etching machine? And I think her quote has one too many negatives. Regardless, it hardly makes sense if you think about it.
Now, if you were concerned about getting counterfeit corn flakes in a Kelloggs box, well then this could be of some value!
]]>Scroll down to "Previously, laser etched foods..."
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