Sci Am: “Snake Oil in the Supermarket”

Posted By elissa on Sep 16, 2010 | 3 comments

Just finished scanning an editorial in this month’s issue of Scientific American: “Snake Oil in the Supermarket.” While not highly detailed, it’s a timely reminder that – just because a product contains added nutrients/nutraceuticals – it’s not necessarily a “healthy” food. For one thing, a product may still not provide a lot of “bang” for your calorie “buck” if it’s also high in sugar or fat; or stripped of other vital nutrients.  And, beyond that, the evidence that isolated nutrients/nutraceuticals will help prevent or treat disease is a lot thinner than the advertising implies:

The FDA currently issues guide­lines for what claims companies can make about their foods. It allows statements about how products affect the normal structure and function of the body but prohibits unauthorized claims about disease. The agency, though, does not review compliance before food is packaged and shipped. Food products arrive at the stores emblazoned with questionable claims. Cheerios can lower cholesterol 4 percent in six weeks, asserted the box label, until the FDA sent General Mills a cease-and-desist letter in May 2009. Redco Foods’s Salada Naturally Decaffeinated Green Tea promised to tackle Alzheimer’s, rheumatism and cancer, until the March crackdown. The agency is then forced to play catch-up. Meanwhile the snake oil sits on supermarket shelves.

…Differences between the lenient U.S. system and the more restrictive European system are easily apparent. For instance, visitors to the Web site for Activia (www.activia.com)—a yogurt product from Dannon—will have a very different experience depending on which country they indicate they are from. The U.S. version prominently displays the product’s putative health benefits, asserting that it can “help regulate your digestive system by helping reduce long intestinal transit time.” (It does not say explicitly that the yogurt helps to alleviate constipation, which would be a clear violation of the FDA prohibition of unauthorized claims about specific medical conditions.) The U.K. version, on the other hand, says only that the yogurt contains an exclusive bacterial culture and, like other yogurts, is a source of calcium and vitamin B12.

It’s bad enough that claims like “low fat,” or “no preservatives” can mislead consumers into believing the products they’re emblazoned on are superior choices. It’s worse when health claims (such as Kellogg’s immunity claims for Rice Krispies) are made. But until the regulatory agencies catch up with the market (assuming they ever do) it will pay to read through the “fine print” on the back of the box, package or container, vs. the label (or ad) claims.