How Food-as-Medicine Execs Are Responding to Kellogg CEO’s ‘Let Them Eat Flakes’ Remarks

Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick recently encouraged families struggling to put food on the table to turn to cereal as their go-to dinner option. Food-as-medicine executives are none too thrilled about his comments — they argue that the remarks underscore the dire need to increase public education about affordable, healthy meal planning.

Food-as-medicine companies are none too thrilled about recent comments made by Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick.

In a CNBC interview, the multimillionaire executive encouraged families struggling to put food on the table to turn to cereal as their go-to dinner option. The remarks — which have been summarized by some as “let them eat flakes” — underscore the dire need to increase public education about affordable, healthy meal planning, food-as-medicine executives argued.

Pilnick’s comments were made on a February 21 appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. He and host Carl Quintanilla were having a discussion about high grocery prices.

“The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnick declared on air. “So we’re advertising about cereal for dinner. If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that’s going to be much more affordable.”