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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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082189
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08218900.008
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1990-09-19
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BUSINESS, Page 47Business NotesCONSUMER PRODUCTSIs It a Drug Or a Cereal?
Psyllium is not exactly a household staple, but the obscure
grain has provoked a kitchen-table brawl between General Mills and
Procter & Gamble. Psyllium contains soluble fiber, which has been
shown to reduce cholesterol levels. The grain is an ingredient in
Benefit, a new breakfast cereal General Mills introduced in May.
Psyllium is also found in Metamucil, one of P&G's fiber laxatives.
But while General Mills is allowed to advertise that Benefit helps
to reduce cholesterol, P&G is forbidden to make the same claim for
its laxative unless it can get FDA approval, which P&G has tried
but failed to get so far.
P&G has urged the FDA to order the cereal off the market. But
General Mills, which has limited Benefit's sales mostly to the
Midwest, intends to fight back. Says a spokesman: "There's no
question that it's a food and not a drug. It's packaged like a
cereal, it looks like a cereal, and it's sold like a cereal."