Comments on: Health claims for yogurt? Really?

By: Hotlinks — Semi-Sweet

Hotlinks — Semi-Sweet — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:04:50 +0000

[...] Parker-Pope’s ditty on probiotics from the Times) . . . what about other health claims? Marion Nestle says NO food should carry a health claim, that foods are not drugs. The European Food Safety Authority [...]

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:01:40 +0000

@Janet Camp

I really would hate to hear what other shoppers are thinking about my cart when I go to the grocery store. Especially this time of year, I do get most of my fruits, veggies and (pastured) meat from my own garden and local farmers, and only pick up the stuff I can’t grow from the grocery store – flour, sugar, and yes, the sugary yogurt and other treats that my kids enjoy as occassional treats. I know they aren’t healthy, and they don’t make up the bulk of our diet, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at my cart!

By: Jill Reid

Jill Reid — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:57:39 +0000

That was hilarious (“Did they not pay enough for the research?”) – I read this blog this morning and I’m still chuckling about it tonight. I had to quit eating flavored yogurt about a year ago because the “natural flavors” caused MSG-like symptoms. I eat whole food, especially fruits and veggies – so I don’t have GI tract problems (like I used to when I was eating mostly processed foods with health claim labels…)

By: FoodRenegade

FoodRenegade — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:29:22 +0000

I, like Margarita, agree that foods shouldn’t have health claims on their labels or in their advertising. (In an ideal world, food wouldn’t even NEED labels.)

That said, what do you make of the famous Hippocratic quote “Let thy medicine be thy food, and thy food be thy medicine?” Many foods have a long history of therapeutic uses, and I’d hate to restrict the ability of the public to re-discover those uses by prohibiting people from making health claims about foods.

By: Mary Haight

Mary Haight — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:29:24 +0000

I must agree with Eric B, but of course they would have to add “as far as we know” (to “this product won’t kill you”):)

By: Marcia

Marcia — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:11:20 +0000

So what good are probiotics in yogurt if they are filling it with sugar? I see, just like some of you have commented, many people packing their carts with sugar filled yogurt thinking it is healthy because the label claims it has healthy bacteria in it!

By: Bobby

Bobby — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:13:23 +0000

As a long-term yogurt eater, I think good ole plain yogurt worked just fine. Now it’s almost imposible to find plain ordinary yogurt, although the store shelves are packed with probiotic-boosted yogurt. These health claims serve one purpose and one purpose only: to raise the price of a basic food commodity by making absurd too-good-to-be-true health claims that they use to justify jacking up the price of what is, basically, spoiled milk.

I agree with the poster above that the dietary-supplement industry is basically a complete scam.

By: asad

asad — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:51:14 +0000

then what are drugs exactly? are mushrooms food? if mushrooms can act as drugs, isn’t it possible that foods with less dramatic effects can also influence the operations of the body? i admire your work but i just don’t understand what you are talking about, you are so fixated on calories in/calories out that you treat the human body like an automobile.

By: Eric Burkett

Eric Burkett — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:50:35 +0000

Marion, there are days when I’d be satisfied with the claim “This product won’t kill you.”

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:15:23 +0000

I don’t eat yogurt based on claims of probiotics giving benefits. I eat yogurt because it is good and I feel it helps my digestive system too. There has been an awful lot of money spent trying to get us to believe all the hype.