Oct 8 2010

Food company responses to obesity

Jeffrey Koplan (Emory) and Kelly Brownell (Yale) have a commentary in JAMA (October 6) titled “Response of the food and beverage industry to the obesity threat.”   They describe how the food and beverage industries:

  • Associate their products with health
  • Frame the issues to emphasize balance or physical activity
  • Pick and choose the science
  • Reformulate products to make them appear healthier
  • Defend themselves and attack critics

Sound familiar?  For details, see  Michele Simon’s excellent book, Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back (Nation Books, 2006).

Addition, October 10: Lori Dorfman of the Berkeley Media Studies Group reminds me about its 2007 Framing Brief, “Reading between the lines: understanding food industry responses to concerns about nutrition.”  This group’s publications are always terrific resources for educating and taking action on food issues.


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[...] Food Politics [...]

  • Bobby
  • October 9, 2010
  • 8:40 am

my library actually has two copies of Michele Simon’s book, I’ll go and take it out right now. Thanks Ms Nestle.

Thanks for the mention, Marion. I did think it sounded familiar!

  • Cloud
  • October 11, 2010
  • 10:56 am

Sadly, lots of people now seem to think it is OK to just pick and choose the science to believe. Case in point: the fact that people opposed to HFCS are happy to refer to the Princeton study that showed a difference between the metabolism of HFCS and sucrose in rats, but don’t mention the many other studies that find no difference.

I’m no fan of HFCS, but I don’t think it is our problem. I think the evidence indicates that too much refined sugar overall is our problem. I feel like a very lonely voice when I post that opinion on any parenting blog that is discussing the evils of HFCS.

With all sides of the argument picking and choosing science, compounded by the public perception that our government agencies are not impartial, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the average consumer can’t sort all of this out.

  • Amy
  • November 9, 2010
  • 7:59 pm

In the same vein I recently read David Kessler’s book “The End of Overeating” which was quite illuminating. I’ll have to see if I can find Ms. Simon’s book also.

[...] Food Politics blog, a suggestion for the book Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight [...]

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