Posts Tagged ‘health claims’

Healthy or Unhealthy Food Perceptions and Narcissism

October 29, 2023 — Unassailable definitions of healthy food and healthy eating are elusive. Is whole milk a healthy beverage? Or one that should be banned from school lunches? We have great sympathy for the task that the scientific advisory committee for the 2025 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans has taken on. But what if perceptions of healthy […]

Magical Thinking for Marketing Pecans

August 7, 2023 — The headlines are great. “Pecans: the surprising superfood for obesity prevention and wellness” says one. “Pecans pack a punch in fighting obesity, diabetes and inflammation” according to another. All this magical thinking about pecans comes from a study of mice on a high-fat diet. What does this mean for humans? Mainly it means that the […]

Exuberant Claims for Exercise and Brain Health

March 31, 2023 — “Exercise with a buddy, your brain will thank you,” says the Washington Post. “Improve Your Memory, Problem-Solving, and Mental Processing Speeds in Just 6 Minutes,” promises Inc. This is just a small sample of the exuberant claims about exercise and brain health coming at us from news media. There’s only one problem. Some of it […]

More Food, Less Joy, and Shorter Lives

March 26, 2023 — Food is medicine, say folks in certain food policy circles, and we have an abundant supply of it – especially in the U.S. So why is it true in this country that we have more food, find less joy in it, and live shorter lives? Eating More, Enjoying It Less, Losing Years of Life American […]

Chocolate Is Medicine?

February 14, 2023 — It’s official. Food Is Medicine can now take chocolate under its wings. It only took five years, but the FDA has rendered regulatory judgment to officially permit the following claim for the health benefits of chocolate: “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, although FDA has concluded that […]

Candy Bars with Lots of Protein

January 21, 2023 — Step right up. Bobo’s is ready to sell us a great new health halo in “a new line of protein bars made with simple, clean ingredients and packed with 15 grams of protein.” They’re solving an obvious problem. “In the protein bar aisle, consumers often find themselves overwhelmed with dozens of over-engineered bar options made […]

FTC Asks for RCTs, Not Vague Health Claims

January 7, 2023 — Who knew that FTC could be a source of support for scientific rigor? Well, late in December the agency issued new guidance – its first in 25 years – clarifying the standards it requires for businesses making health claims about their products. In this new guidance, FTC makes a clear call for RCTs (randomized controlled […]

Healthy “Energy” Bars and Unhealthy Whole Milk

October 9, 2022 — This afternoon at FNCE, Hope Warshaw will be moderating a wide-ranging conversation with David Kessler. He is the FDA commissioner who oversaw the requirement to put Nutrition Facts labels on food back in 1994. That’s when many ideas took shape in the popular imagination about what a healthy food is. Now is a good time […]

Feeding Your Microbiome Dietary Pixie Dust

September 21, 2022 — According to Anahad O’Connor in the Washington Post, your microbiome can do amazing things for you. “These vast communities of microbes are the gateway to your health and well-being – and one of the simplest and most powerful ways to shape and nurture them is through your diet.” Because research sez so. So maybe feeding […]

Will Plant-Based Meats Save the Planet and Our Health?

May 31, 2022 — Hope springs eternal. Hype sells better than mere facts. Imagined benefits are better than objective documentation. Thus, plant-based ultra-processed foods that simulate the experience of eating meat are still enjoying a health and environmental halo. But will these plant-based meats actually help to save the planet and our health? The Big Plant-Based Health Halo In […]