Legal advice to food companies: health claims

April 14, 2008

As far as I can tell, health claims are completely out of control and food companies can say practically anything they want to about the health benefits of their products or ingredients. Not so, says a lawyer who steers food companies “to the bucks, not the courts.” His ten rules suggest the need for honesty and integrity (what a concept!). My favorite: “Just because others do it, doesn’t mean it’s OK.” Now, if we could just get Congress to agree that health claims ought to have some real science behind them….


7 Comments

  1. […] Tuulevi wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAs far as I can tell, health claims are completely out of control and it looks like food companies can say practically anything they want about the health benefits of their products or ingredients. Not so, says a lawyer who steers food … […]

    Pingback by Legal advice to food companies: health claims | The Health Shack Blog — April 14, 2008 @ 10:44 am

  2. […] Tuulevi wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAs far as I can tell, health claims are completely out of control and it looks like food companies can say practically anything they want about the health benefits of their products or ingredients. Not so, says a lawyer who steers food … […]

    Pingback by Legal advice to food companies: health claims | Heavenly Health — April 14, 2008 @ 10:49 am

  3. […] Legal advice to food companies: health claims […]

    Pingback by   WOMAN’S HEALTH GOES GREENER by Health Tips — April 14, 2008 @ 11:05 am

  4. […] Legal advice to food companies:healthclaims […]

    Pingback by Health Babe » Do you know the database called GlobalHealth? — April 14, 2008 @ 12:47 pm

  5. […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAs far as I can tell, health claims are completely out of control and it looks like food companies can say practically anything they want about the health benefits of their products or ingredients. Not so, says a lawyer who steers food … […]

    Pingback by Legal advice to food companies: health claims | 30 Minute Meal Ideas — April 14, 2008 @ 2:11 pm

  6. Aw, come on…you want REAL science to interfere with the claims made on packages and in ads? tsk,tsk.

    Comment by Sheila — April 15, 2008 @ 1:31 pm

  7. Ah, but what about the health claims tossed off left and right by ‘dieticians’ and ‘nutritionists’ in the popular media.

    What about the ‘dietician’ on the Today show who claims “whole grains protect against cardiovascular disease”. . . broccoli helps fight cancer. . . eating fiber can help you lose weight.’

    They say things like this all the time, unsubstantiated, uncited, unchallenged. They get a free pass.

    Why not make THEM demonstrate, with multiple, peer-reviewed, double-blind, controlled studies that what THEY say so blithely is true.

    I think you’d find a lot of ‘dieticians’ on the block for spouting just as much guesswork and nonsense as food marketers do.

    Comment by Anton — April 17, 2008 @ 4:13 pm

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Topics

activity additives agriculture alcohol Alice Waters allergies American Dietetic Association animals antibiotics antioxidants beef bisphenol A books Bottled Water breast feeding Brian Wansink burger king calcium calorie labels Calories Canada Cancer cdc center for consumer freedom Cereals childhood obesity China chocolate climate change cloned animals Coca Cola colbert consolidation corn corn sweeteners Country of Origin Labeling CSPI Dairy diabetes diet and energy drinks dietary guidelines diets e coli eat less move more eating liberally farm policy fast food fats and oils FDA fiber fish food art food assistance Food Composition food crisis food deserts food industry food marketing food miles food policy food safety food stamps food systems Framingham Heart Study Fruits and Vegetables FTC functional foods GAO genetically modified grassfed health claims hfcs Hugo drinks hyperactivity India infant formula Interviews irradiation juice drinks junk food kellogg kids diets King Corn Korea Labels lawsuits mad cow maps Margarines marketing to kids McDonalds Meat meat safety media melamine Michael Pollan Monsanto movies natural New Zealand obama action obesity obesity in kids Omega 3 Fats organic fish organic standards organics partnerships peanut butter PepsiCo pesticides pet food Phil Lempert photos Portion sizes price fixing price of food probiotics pyramid Quotes from What to Eat restaurants revolving door salt San Francisco Chronicle school food scoring systems soft drinks sponsorship stevia Sugars supermarkets supplements surveys sweeteners taste taxes television tomatoes toxins trans fat USDA vegetarian and vegan Vending machines videos vitamins wall street Whole Foods Whole Grains WIC Yearly Kos