Cereal Crusader passes away.

Robert B. Choate died this month. In addition to having really cool sideburns, this consumer advocate's biggest claim to fame was the war he waged in the 1970s to make cereal manufacturers for their nutritionally void products.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Choate, who had been involved in campaigns against poverty and hunger, made headlines when he testified on nutrition information for consumers at a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington. Using data provided by the manufacturers, he ranked Sugar Smacks, Froot Loops, Lucky Charms and 57 other popular cereals by their nutritive value and found that 40 offered such poor nourishment that they were essentially empty calories.

The cereal industry attacked his findings as misguided and erroneous, but within a year the nutritional content of the majority of the products on his widely publicized list had been boosted to respectable levels.

My favorite part of the obituary comes towards the end:

Choate was denounced by the cereal industry and many nutritionists, who said it was unfair of him to evaluate the cereals without milk, a significant source of protein.

Awesome. That's like Smirnoff getting mad at critics because people often add orange juice to vodka, thus upping its nutritional value.

Anyway, a lot of people associate health awareness in the seventies with doctors smoking in hospitals and the like. It's nice to know the Good Fight has been under way for a while now.

Photo: United Press International