Robert B. Choate Jr.

The ‘citizen lobbyist’ who waged war on cereals

1924–2009

Robert B. Choate Jr., who has died at 84, had a long career as what he called a “citizen lobbyist,” working as a consumer advocate and an anti-hunger activist. He won his greatest renown in 1970 by telling Congress that most breakfast cereals were no more nourishing than candy bars or alcohol.

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“Choate was an unlikely crusader,” said the Los Angeles Times. A Boston Brahmin who favored tweeds and bow ties, he was related to the founder of the Choate School, a “Connecticut preppy bastion.” After graduating from Phillips Exeter and U.C.-Berkeley, he became a successful construction engineer and real estate investor in Arizona. While recovering from a bout of hepatitis, he used his downtime to read, and found himself “profoundly affected by an autobiography of Walter White, an early leader of the NAACP.” From that point on, he dedicated himself to social justice, founding welfare programs in Arizona and an anti-establishment magazine called Reveille. “A bit of a scalawag,” Choate also touted—with limited success—freshly squeezed Arizona orange juice over better-known California brands. By the 1960s he had moved to Washington, D.C., as a consultant to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

In 1969, Choate helped launch the Senate Select Subcommittee on Nutrition and Human Needs, which gave him a public platform, said The Washington Post. Testifying before the committee on the nutritional value of breakfast cereals, he said that 40 of the 60 leading brands were merely “empty calories.” Based on their vitamin, mineral, and protein content, he counted General Mills’ Total and Kellogg’s Product 19 among the best. “But he said Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Frosted Flakes, and General Mills’ Cheerios and Wheaties ranked among the worst.” An outraged cereal industry claimed his data was flawed. But a public outcry soon erupted and the media took notice: Newsweek headlined an article about his crusade “Snap, Crackle, Flop.” Thanks to Choate, it wasn’t long before “nutritional labels began appearing on cereal boxes.”

Choate continued to work on consumer and poverty issues for the rest of his life. He died last week of a medical condition that prevented him from swallowing.