Stick With the Facts: American Dietetic Association Warns Food and Nutrition Misinformation Can Be Hazardous to Your Health – and Your Wallet

Stick With the Facts: American Dietetic Association Warns Food and Nutrition Misinformation Can Be Hazardous to Your Health – and Your Wallet

FOR RELEASE JANUARY 17, 2007

Media contact:  Jennifer Starkey, Julia Dombrowski, Tom Ryan
800/877-1600, ext. 4802, 4769, 4894
media@eatright.org

CHICAGO – As consumers increasingly take responsibility for their own health, people want all the information they can get on making healthful choices, including what to eat. According to the American Dietetic Association, the public’s hunger for information makes many people vulnerable to food and nutrition misinformation.

New research studies come out every day and often the findings of one study will conflict with those of another. New food products like supplements appear daily on store shelves. New diet books appear regularly, often written by celebrities, fitness experts, psychologists and others with no training in science or nutrition.
 
“Unfortunately not all the food and nutrition information consumers hear is reliable,” says registered dietitian and ADA spokesperson Marisa Moore. “Some of it can be harmful to your health, not to mention expensive. Seeking out reliable information, from experts like registered dietitians, gives consumers their best opportunity to make the nutrition choices that are right for them.”

Avoiding food and nutrition misinformation is a key message of National Nutrition Month® 2007, when the American Dietetic Association reminds consumers that registered dietitians are their most valuable and credible source of timely, scientifically based food and nutrition information. Helping people understand the consequences of food and nutrition misinformation is such a high priority for the American Dietetic Association that ADA has developed an official position statement on the issue:

Food and nutrition misinformation can have harmful effects on the health, well-being and economic status of consumers. Nationally credentialed dietetics professionals working in health care, academia, public health, the media, government and the food industry are uniquely qualified to advocate for and promote science-based nutrition information to the public, function as primary nutrition educators to health professionals and actively correct food and nutrition misinformation.

ADA’s position encourages “journalistic reporting (that) is accurate, balanced, offers a healthful skepticism, provides practical consumer advice and presents reports that reflect sound scientific principles.” Science researchers themselves “should describe their study findings in a broader context to help readers understand the connection with studies that have the same or different outcomes.” The food industry “can help consumers understand emerging nutrition issues by providing accurate information.”

“Consumers can do much to help themselves avoid food and nutrition misinformation,” Moore says. “Pay special attention to a product’s claims and the qualifications of the information’s sources. You’ll protect your health and save money.”

ADA’s position addresses the most common types of food and nutrition misinformation, including food fads, health fraud and misdirected claims that can lead consumers to make incorrect inferences or generalizations about the health benefits of food (such as marketing a product as low in carbohydrates when it is still high in calories).

ADA’s position says “the proliferation of functional foods and dietary supplements” has caused an increase in food and nutrition misinformation “because the number of these products has outpaced federal regulations. Consumer spending on functional foods, dietary supplements, natural/organic foods and natural personal care products totaled $168 billion in 2004. This wide range of herbal, botanical and sports supplements, which comprise over half of the dietary supplement industry, has helped sales increase $13.9 billion in 2004.”

According to ADA’s position, common sources of food and nutrition misinformation include:

  • Media reports of scientific studies that do not put findings in “sufficient context for consumers to understand the findings.”
  • Web sites containing “questionable, inaccurate or alarming nutrition information promoted by individuals and groups supporting unscientific views.”
  • Companies promoting “dietary supplements or unproven weight-loss products (claiming) their products can prevent or cure disease.”
  • Food beliefs “rooted in traditional cultures or religions (that) are not supported by scientific evidence.”

Food and nutrition misinformation has both short-term and long-term costs to individuals and society, according to ADA’s position statement. “Physical harm can also occur if the use of products leads individuals to delay or to avoid seeking proper health care or if it interferes with sound nutrition education and practices. Economic harm can occur when purported remedies, treatments and cures fail to work and when products are needlessly purchased.…The cost of health fraud can be estimated to be in the billions of dollars, especially when including the cost of purchasing products that may do no harm but also provide no benefit.”

In the long term, food and nutrition misinformation “can lead consumers to lose faith in traditional sources of nutrition information and to provide less attention and credence to the results of new findings. It may even erode their perception of their ability to confidently manage a healthful lifestyle.”

With approximately 65,000 members, the American Dietetic Association is the nation’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being. To locate a registered dietitian in your area, visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org.


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