CRUNCH TIME

No FDA cheer for Cheerios

OK, so the Food and Drug Administration is scolding cereal maker General Mills for making inappropriate claims about Cheerios' ability to lower cholesterol and treat heart disease. Only FDA-approved drugs are allowed to make such claims, regulators say. At issue is the labeling of claims on the box.

“;The science is not in question,”; responded Cheerios spokesman Tom Forsythe. “;The clinical study supporting Cheerios' cholesterol-lowering benefit is very strong.”;

We'll leave it to them to work out. Cheerios is the best-selling cereal brand in the U.S., with sales of $1.4 billion last year, the company says. Health benefits notwithstanding, Cheerios is one of those cereals out there that isn't encrusted in sugar. And many parents of toddlers will attest to its merits as a fun, familiar and relatively healthful snack that has calmed many testy tantrums. Ahh, peace — now that's good for the heart.

SNACK ATTACK

Double-dip that chip? Think twice

Amid the steady diet of alarming headlines from the Associated Press about America's failing Medicare system, deepening health-care crisis, and rising obesity and diabetes rates comes this tasty tidbit: A recipe for chocolate-dipped potato chips.

The quick dessert is hailed for its “;delicious blast of sweet and salty”; and is said to pair nicely with beer or a bold red wine. Not quite the ideal prescription for an ailing nation, but certain to quell any snack attack.