Group Shaping US Nutrition Receives Millions from Big Food Industry (theguardian.com) 33
Newly released documents show an influential group that helps shape US food policy and steers consumers toward nutritional products has financial ties to the world's largest processed food companies and has been controlled by former industry employees who have worked for companies like Monsanto. From a report: The documents reveal the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, owns stock in ultra-processed food companies and has received millions in contributions from producers of pop, candy, and processed foods linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other health problems.
The findings are a part of a recently published peer-reviewed study that examined a trove of financial documents and internal communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request. "It's incredibly influential so if the Academy is corrupt then nutritional policy in the US is going to be corrupt," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of US Right to Know, and a co-author of the study. The investigative non-profit developed the study with researchers from non-profits and universities in the US and UK. "If we're ever going to solve the problems of obesity and diabetes in the US and elsewhere, then we're going to have to tackle the corruption in our health institutions," Ruskin added.
The findings are a part of a recently published peer-reviewed study that examined a trove of financial documents and internal communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request. "It's incredibly influential so if the Academy is corrupt then nutritional policy in the US is going to be corrupt," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of US Right to Know, and a co-author of the study. The investigative non-profit developed the study with researchers from non-profits and universities in the US and UK. "If we're ever going to solve the problems of obesity and diabetes in the US and elsewhere, then we're going to have to tackle the corruption in our health institutions," Ruskin added.
So business as normal (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want to solve diabetes and such. (Score:2, Insightful)
Quit eating processed foods. I'm as guilty as anyone, but we all know the answer. It's not another frozen dinner with 1200mg of sodium or a can of soup with a 1000mg.
Re: (Score:3)
We need to stop conflating individual actions with collective policies.
Yes everyone can and should individually eat better, that is not a reason to throw our hands up and say we should have no institutional policies about public health, they are not exclusive options.
Re: If you want to solve diabetes and such. (Score:2)
The real problem is regulatory capture. This was best demonstrated during the pandemic when the foxes wrote the laws on the hen house. We were given untested drugs and regulatory authoritarian fascists insisted we all tak
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We are not trying to get a food pyramid updated. We rely on it for things like determining how much of a chemical like a food die or a preservative or a flavor substitute or a taste enhancer is safe. That is what we are losing out in here. Those hohos you munch down on are becoming toxic.
What? Thats exactly what we are trying to do. If you feel like the ADA and FDA aren't doing their jobs you can affect change in those agencies by who you elect and hwo plaes the leads in those departments.
What the fuck? It is a problem the government itself nor any politician can fix. We the people need to fix it.
And how do the people fix issues with their government eh? That was my point! You can't just take it and pretend like I never said it.
Eating right is good but that is an individual choice and that is separated from the choices we make in public society that sets broad policy areas, i.e. voting and politic
Yeah that was my point (Score:3)
Crap like Ho Ho's and twinkies etc are like 100% chemical. Not sure what you are looking for in government guidance, but quit eating that crap it's extremly bad for you!
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> Quit eating processed foods. I'm as guilty as anyone, but we all know the answer. It's not another frozen dinner with 1200mg of sodium or a can of soup with a 1000mg.
"Don't eat salt" is very 80's advice. Unless you have kidney disease, most Americans don't get enough salt, especially if they eat whole foods.
Watch the Huberman pod on salt intake for references.
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> "Don't eat salt" is very 80's advice
Commenting on the demented levels of salt frozen diners and canned soup have risen to doesn't in any way imply "Don't eat salt'.
> most Americans don't get enough salt, especially if they eat whole foods
Research seems to contradict that. What are your references ? Oh ...
> Watch the Huberman pod on salt intake for references.
I'm not going to start googling when just looking at an overview of the claims he's making, his fad like tone, his cut from his sponsors sel
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Big Grocery sounds more funny (Score:1)
Just saying
Imagine... an entire industry that preys on people's hunger by feeding them slop
Re:Big Grocery sounds more funny (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, several huge industries that play off one another.
Big Ag sells genetically modified grains, fruits, vegetables and meat; takes grazing animals off their natural grasslands and puts them in artificially lit sheds, standing in mud and muck, and fed on soya and sea-bottom dredgings. Then it pumps them full of antibiotics to keep them alive and fatten them fast - soon rendering those antibiotics useless for saving human lives.
Big Food takes real food and adulterates it with a myriad artificial flavours, colours, and preservatives, assembles "meals" out of the cheapest ingredients - largely grains, sugar, and vegetable oils - and pays a vast industry to make those "meals" palatable and even addictive. People who get most of their calories from processed carbohydrates and vegetable oils may stay apparently strong and healthy into their thirties or even forties, but then the roof starts to fall in: metabolic syndrome makes itself felt, leading to diabetes and early death.
Big Med, abetted by Big Insurance, charges sky-high prices for every possible medical or surgical service, from simple diagnosis to lifelong courses of dangerous and often addictive drugs and surgical operations that are often useless or counter-productive.
Big Pharma churns out thousands of new drugs (please don't call them by weasel names such as "medication") to meet its challenging profit goals. Today medical staff are astonished to encounter a patient who isn't on multiple prescription drugs - although no one has the faintest idea how they all interact. Everyone, right from the moment of birth, is stuck with dozens of needles and plied with scores of drugs - although no one has the faintest idea what the long-term (or even short-term) consequences are. Once the money's in the bank, who cares? And a tiny fraction of that money buys all the legislators, administrators, judges, prosecutors and other officials you need.
Big Insurance makes a mint out of the whole merry-go-round. The more hospitals charge, the better Big Insurance likes it.
Big Ag and Big Food make people sick (and cheat them); Big Med and Big Pharma keep them sick to "maintain revenue streams"; and Big Insurance bilks citizens and corporations to pay through the nose for the "health care" they wouldn't need if they ate and drank healthily, got adequate sleep, exercise, sunshine and fresh air, and quit taking drugs.
And of course Big Government wallows in the joy of it all. Billions of drugged, apathetic, unhealthy, stupid citizens who can't or won't speak up and complain. And enormous corporations to deal with - so much simpler and easier than individual citizens. A corporation is a vast, helpless target for government coercion. Just apply the right pressures, and presto! you have social media corporations spreading government propaganda and censoring anyone who tries to dispute it.
Two good books to start informing yourself ar "Farmageddon" and "Fast Food Nation". For extra points, try something sound on nutrition such as anything by Gary Taubes.
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Well, what do people expect? (Score:3)
Re: Well, what do people expect? (Score:2)
can't be bought
Only rented. Gotta keep that cash rolling in.
Re:Well, what do people expect? (Score:4, Informative)
Canada's Food Guide was for a very long time heavily influenced by industry. Then in 2019 we finally got a sort-of scientifically-based mostly-free-of-industry-influence guide.
So why not just ignore the industry guides and follow this one [canada.ca] instead?
Re: Well, what do people expect? (Score:4, Funny)
Canada
But I don't like poutine with maple syrup.
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Witty. So witty.
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Canada's Food Guide was for a very long time heavily influenced by industry. Then in 2019 we finally got a sort-of scientifically-based mostly-free-of-industry-influence guide.
So why not just ignore the industry guides and follow this one [canada.ca] instead?
I'm Canadian, and I'm happy to see that the government has improved their dietary advice. However, the abundance of healthy fats required for good health is conspicuously absent from the recommendations, and a much more explicit recommendation for severely limiting processed foods is in order.
Re: Well, what do people expect? (Score:1)
The government is funding them, this is the primary problem, that the government tells people what they should do, which requires a narrow amount of âexpertsâ(TM) which can be bought and paid for. These organizations could just exist without an FDA to shield them from liability for what they sell.
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Brawndo! (Score:2)
"It's incredibly influential so if the Academy is corrupt then nutritional policy in the US is going to be corrupt," said Gary Ruskin...
"Brawndo's got what plants crave -- It's got electrolytes! [youtube.com]"
Fat free! (Score:2, Insightful)
On a tangent, this reminds me of the "Fat Free" craze of years ago -- where our lovely food industry tried to convince you that it's the fat that's bad (well, they've been pulling that sh*t forever), while knowing that it's sugar that is both bad for you *but* highly addictive. Those "fat free" foods were loaded with sugar and everyone just bought right into it, diabetes and all.
I just try to eat reasonably, meaning I may have some "bad things" here and there, but I try to just eat well, good foods.
Old News (Score:2)
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Most really important things have been known for millennia. See, for example, Ecclesiastes. Or Hesiod. Or Confucius or Lao Tse... For instance,
"For all Man’s supposed accomplishments, his continued existence is completely dependent upon six inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains".
- Confucius
Sounds familiar (Score:1)
The FDA said (Score:1)
Like when the FDA said sugar was as dangerous as water, or when it said our diet should have more grains and cereals (starch) than fruit and vegetables. Although, modern fruit contains a lot of fructose, and fast-growing vegetables,what most people eat, are high in starch as well.
The science is already there but largely ignored. (Score:5, Informative)
The situation is fairly simple.
1. The more processing that goes into the production of food, the less like food it becomes. Food in its natural form contains many components that are locked together. It is the job of our digestive system to break them up and extract the nutrients we want. This is a slow and energy intensive process, the result is that nutrients are extracted slowly and some of the calorific value is used in the digestion process. The end result being no sudden influx of nutrients for the body to deal with and fewer excessive calories compared to food that has been pre-processed.
2. Refined sugar is by far the worst ingredient to be added to food. It doesn’t matter if it is fructose, glucose or any other form of sugar. All cause a spike in the glycemic index, you blood now rich with excess sugar triggers an inflammatory response and the liver sets to work converting all that sugar to cholesterol, i.e fat! This is the main reason for obesity and heart disease.
3. Some forms of processing produces compounds that given extended exposure to are thought to be responsible for some illnesses. While testing shows that they are safe, just like software testing the tests do not take not consideration the complexities so do not catch everything.
Research that has not been bought by processed food companies or pedlars of miracle super foods clearly show that minimally processed food has the best health outcomes, and that as the poorest people in countries like the USA have little option but to eat heavily processed food due to it being the lowest cost option are disproportionately affected.
No silly fad diets with exotic ingredients, plant based diets or special processed foods advertised as low fat, low salt etc will help. All we need to do is begin to reduce how much processing we do to food and stop adding masses of refined sugar to everything even savoury foods!
Re: The science is already there but largely ignor (Score:1)