Food and Health Fact #188

Fact #188: Don't believe the (health) hype

By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #188:

Don't believe the (health) hype

I post on Twitter semi-regularly. Find me at @foodhealthfacts The full catalog of my previous posts, articles, and commentaries can be found on the Food and Health Facts websiteHave an idea for something I should write about? Send it along by replying to this email.

My introduction to misleading food marketing came in fourth grade. I was watching a documentary being shown by my beloved teacher, Mr. Nakatani, and while I don’t recall the subject, I do recall the narrator pointing out what my nine-year-old self had never noticed: a popular cereal for kids, “Froot Loops,” was spelled in that peculiar way because it didn’t contain any fruit.

Forty-five years have passed since I saw that documentary, but the deceptive tactics employed by America’s food companies have never ended. Indeed, they are one reason why ultraprocessed foods account for 58 percent of calories consumed by adults – and 67 percent among kids.

When it comes to in-store marketing, the deception is pretty simple: put a word or phrase on the food package – Low-Fat! – to make consumers think that the sodium-laden calorie bomb they’re contemplating may not be as bad for them as they think. The practice has become so prevalent there’s now a nifty word for it: “healthwashing.”

The food writer Michael Pollan has cleverly captured how healthwashing works and how it tricks consumers:

"As a general rule, it's a whole lot easier to slap a health claim on a box of sugary cereal than on a raw potato or a carrot, with the perverse result that the most healthful foods in the supermarket sit there quietly in the produce section, silent as stroke victims, while a few aisles over in Cereal the Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms are screaming their newfound 'whole-grain goodness' to the rafters."

There are countless examples of healthwashing – and they go well beyond cereal. The packaging may show someone engaged in an athletic pursuit (here’s looking at you, ClifBar, and your 16 grams of added sugar). The brand may sound pure (Real Food Bar, Back to Nature) or suggest its products are cooked up in your neighbor’s kitchen (Amy’s).

Health-connoting terms will also be used (see a roundup here), such as “all natural,” “multigrain” “good source of,” “fat-free,” “superfood,” and “whole grains.” Alas, most of these words or phrases are, at best, misleading and incomplete. And the only objective is to make the product sound better for you than it actually is.

There one’s healthwashing phrase that exceeds all the rest. It is plastered across labels for food (and even products like lipstick and water) and it has the advantage of sounding healthy: organic.

It’s actually nothing more than a designation based on how foods are grown and processed, with a focus on soil quality, animal raising practics, pest and weed control, and the use of additives.

But clever marketing is one reason why nearly half of all Americans believe organic food is healthier than conventionally-grown food. It also tends to be more expensive, which can leave the impression that you’re paying for better health.

But when researchers at Stanford University sifted through 237 research papers, they found little evidence that organic foods are better for you than conventional alternatives. A more recent meta-analysis, published in 2020, concluded that, “The current evidence base does not allow a definitive statement on the health benefits of organic dietary intake.”

The misguided belief in organic food’s health benefits can be harmful to human health. A study by two University of Michigan professors found that those who consume organic food mistakenly believe they have a reduced need to exercise. Other studies have shown that the “organic” designation on some cigarettes – yes, there are cigarettes made with organic tobacco – can reduce perceptions of their ill effects.

To see how the “organic” designation works, consider a brand such as Alden’s Organic. It describes its “Oregon made” products as being “non-GMO” and free of high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavoring, carrageenan, and antibiotics.

An FAQ section on the company’s website addresses a variety of other topics, such as whether there is wheat or corn in the alcohol used in its vanilla flavors (no!) and whether the coffee it uses is “Fair Trade” (yes!).

So whatever Alden’s is selling, it must be healthy, right?

Alden’s primary product is ice cream. One offering, with the clever name Dough Yeah, is a cookie dough fudge concoction. A single serving (two-thirds of a cup) has 40 percent of both the daily recommended amounts of added sugar and of saturated fat. Here are the ingredients:

Milk*, Cream*, Cane Sugar*, Fudge* (Water, Sugar*, Bittersweet Chocolate* (Unsweetened Chocolate*, Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*, Non-GMO Soy Lecithin, Vanilla Extract*), Cocoa* (Processed With Alkali), Butter* (Cream*, Salt), Tapioca Starch*, Natural Flavor*, Salt, Locust Bean Gum*), Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough* (Wheat Flour*, Cane Sugar*, Butter* (Cream*), Water, Semisweet Chocolate* (Cane Sugar*, Unsweetened Chocolate*, Cocoa Butter*, Soy Lecithin*), Corn Starch*, Molasses*, Salt, Vanilla Extract*), Tapioca Syrup*, Caramel Base* (Sugar*, Water), Tapioca Starch*, Vanilla Extract*, Sea Salt, Guar Gum*, Soy Lecithin*, Locust Bean Gum*, Xanthan Gum. 

That’s six references to sugar, five to chocolate, and four to both butter and salt. But rest easy, because every product with an asterisk is organic.

I suspect Alden’s is more the rule than the exception when it comes to putting a health halo on products that are decidedly unhealthy. And it speaks to the need for consumers to be able to see through the misleading language on food products and know how to decipher a nutrition label.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed a new nutrition label, and it would help curtail the incidence of healthwashing. But more explicit health warnings may be needed, along the lines of what’s required in Mexico, where some product carry labels that read, “EXCESS SUGAR,” “EXCESS SODIUM,” “EXCESS CALORIES,” or “EXCESS TRANS FATS”

The prevalence of healthwashing is just one emblem of the way in which America’s food system contributes to poor metabolic health. It’s a reminder of two bits of grocery store guidance I’ve heard in recent years: don’t buy any food product that makes a health claim and don’t buy anything that comes in a box.

Much easier said than done, of course. But following it will help ensure you’re buying real food – and not fruit-free Froot Loops. 

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