Kara Walsh

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Chapter 12 "Nutrition Fads, Fallacies, and Scams"

• By
• Kara Walsh

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Overview Food Faddism

• What is Food Faddism?
• How did it start?
• Where is it found?
• How does it happen????

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What is Faddism?

• Nutrition related myths, fads, and quackery
• Promoting unscientific concepts that can cause
  public confusion and lead consumers to make
  unwise purchases, or jeopardize health.
• Exploits fears and false hopes

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How did it Start?

• Ancient Greeks/Romans/Egyptians believed diet was
  primal factor in health, disease, intellect,
  behavior, mortality.
• Beauty and good health comes from pain

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Early Scam Artists

• Sylvester Graham (1794- 1851)
• Promoted the simple
• Started exercising near open windows, and
  promoted regular bathing
• Created the Graham Cracker

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Scam Artists Cont

• James Caleb Jackson (1852-1943)
• Cured his own kidney/heart problems by drinking
  30-40 glasses of water a day!
• Created sanitarium (health club) where he offered
  water cures
• Created granola to supplement graham crackers
  (first health foods)

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Scam artists cont

• John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943)
• 1st to make millions from faddism
• Also used water cure for almost every know
  ailment
• Created the wheat flake
• By 1899 the flakes evolved into the cereal based
  company KELLOGGS!!!
• Major competitor Charles POST created grape
  nuts as a cure for appendicitis, malaria,
  tuberculosis and loose teeth!

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Where are Fads and Fallacies found??

• Promoted through practitioners, health resorts,
  retail establishments, trade organizations, media
  outlets
• BOOKS
• PERIODICALS
• HEALTH FOOD STORES
• PHARMACYS/DRUGSTORES
• CHIROPRACTORS

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Books

• Seen as the Silent Sales Force
• 276 million (1996) health food stores only!
• Life Extension Bestseller 1982/83
• Companies designed products to take advantage
  claims in book
• Antioxidants, moisturizers, and anti-aging
  product sales increased
• Based on animal experiments
• Claimed one could live to 150!!!

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Sound Familiar?

• Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw- Life Extention
• Adelle Davis- Lets Eat Right to Keep Fit
• Lendon Smith- Feed Your Kids Right
• Robert Atkins Dr.Atkins Diet Revolution
• Bill Phillips- Body for Life????

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Periodicals

• Claims can be made by independent authors (if
  no direct connection between author and
  manufacture)
• Ads for supplements placed on pages adjacent to
  articles boosting their ingredients
• Protected under Freedom of Press

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Health Food Stores

• In 1996, gross sale of more than 10 billion.
• No special knowledge or training required.
• Employees retain info from books and magazines
  that promote supplements for virtually all health
  problems.
• Commonly diagnose and prescribe

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General Nutrition Center (GNC)

• Largest health food chain in U.S. and Canada
• Managers charged with several criminal violations
  by the FDA, FTC, and Federal Food, Drug and
  Cosmetic Act.
• Simply agrees to pay penalties to settle charges
  (at one time over 41 unsubstantiated claims
  existed!!!)
• 1970s marketed supplement of the amino acid
  L-tryptophan (38 deaths/ 5000 ill or disabled)

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Pharmacists

• Almost every pharmacy sells irrationally
  formulated products (along with good ones).
• Chain drugstores are more likely than
  individually owned stores.
• Most common reasons for recommending supplements
  Stress/ Colds/ Athletic activity
• Found that only 15 of multivitamins meet
  approved guidelines

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Chiropractors

• Products sold for 2 times the wholesale cost.
• Most of these are intended for the treatment of
  disease, even though they lack FDA approval.
• Product info is communicated by literature,
  company sponsored meetings/seminars, mail.

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Nutrition Consultants

• Non accredited correspondence schools offer B.S/
  M.S./ Ph.D.s in less than a year.
• Most textbooks used as curriculum were written
  for the general public by promoters of dubious
  nutrition practices.
• Suspicious headings Acupuncture, Health and
  Diet Products, Health, Fitness and Nutrition
  Consultants, Herbs, Holistic Practitioners,
  Weight Control Services, Wellness Programs

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Dubious Tests

• HAIR ANALYSIS
• MUSCLE-TESTING
• LIVE-CELL ANALYSIS
• FUNCTIONAL INTRACELLULAR ANALYSIS

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How does it Happen??

• IT IS ILLEGAL TO PLACE
• UNPROVEN CLAIMS ON A
• PRODUCT LABEL, BUT

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False Information can be found in ANY of these

• Pamphlets and Newsletters
• Magazines (articles and ads)
• Television (commercials and talk shows)
• Internet
• Word of mouth/ seminars

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The Bad Guys

• National Health Federation (NHF)
• Citizens for Health (CFH)
• American Preventive Medical Association (APMA)
• Rodale Press Prevention Magazine
• Nutritional Health Alliance (NHA)

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Summary

• What is Faddism? False claims and scams preying
  on fears and concerns of citizens.
• How did it start? It has ancient roots, greed
  being number. People want to get rich quick!!
• Where can it be found?? Anywhere but actually on
  the product label.
• How?? Many laws to weaken FDA, many committees
  and organizations fighting for freedom of speech
  and press.

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Consumer Tips

• 1) Read labels carefully!
• 2) Be suspicious of these headings
  Acupuncture, Health and Diet Products,
  Health, Fitness, and Nutrition Consultants,
  Herbs, Holistic Practitioners, Weight
  Control Services, Wellness Programs,
  Alternative, Natural
• 3) Avoid practitioners who prescribe vitamin
  supplements for everyone.

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• REMEMBER IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT
  PROBABLY IS!!!