Marketing, not Health. . - Book Corners - Food Politics, How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health - book review

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, May, 2003 by Beatrice Trum Hunter

Food Politics, How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health

by Dr. Marion Nestle

University of California Press, Berkeley, California 94720 USA

457 pages, 2002, hardcover, $29.95

"As an academic nutritionist," writes Marion Nestle in the preface to her book, Food Politics, "I grapple on a daily basis with what I see as a central contradiction between nutrition theory and practice...people seem increasingly confused about what they are supposed to eat to stay healthy.... In thinking about the contradiction, I have often wondered what role the food industry might play in creating an environment conducive to overeating and poor nutritional practices and so confusing about basic principles of diet and health."

Food Politics explores this confusion and contradictions in depth. Like manufacture of cigarettes, or weapons, food product manufacture is very big business. By the end of the 20th century, the sale of food products in America generated nearly $900 billion annually for food corporations. These groups need to maximize profits to please shareholders. The economic drive has nothing to do with nutrition and health. Multinational food corporations aggressively lobby officials covertly, co-opt nutritional experts, and vigorously attempt to expand sales by exploiting vulnerable market segments: young children and minority groups at home, and people in developing countries abroad.

Nestle, as professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University, served as editor of the 1988 Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health. Also, she has served as a nutrition policy advisor to the US Department of Health and Human Services, and as a member of nutrition and science advisory committees to the United States Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Administration. With her background straddling both academic expertise and federal governmental services, she brings a rare perspective to the issues. She illustrates how governmental dietary advice is watered down and weakened by food lobbies; how schools are exploited to push soft drinks to ease their tight budgets; and how, under the guise of "objective" scientific research, food sellers promote their products as "healthy." Strategies and decisions to produce mass market food products are driven -- not by science and health -- but by profits.

In a chapter "Co-opting Nutrition Professionals" Nestle cites numerous examples of how corporations with vested interests sponsor groups that advise the public about nutrition and health. As examples: The American Dietetic Association's fact sheets have been sponsored by industry groups such as The Sugar Association and The Dairy Council. The annual meeting of the American College of Nutrition has been underwritten by Quaker Oats and Novartis. Educational activities of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition have been sponsored by Best Foods, Coca-Cola, Knoll Pharmaceutical, and Amgen. The annual meeting of the American Society for Nutritional Science was sponsored by Procter & Gamble, Mead Johnson, and Ross Products. The Dietary Reference Intakes of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine were assisted financially by M&M Mars, Weider Nutrition Group, Roche Vitamins, and Mead Johnson. Educational programs of the Society for Nutrition Education were sponsored by Dole Foods, Nestle USA, an d the Food Marketing Institute. The Nutrition Navigator Website of Tufts University was underwritten by Krafts Foods (Philip Morris). Similar to medical journal-pharmaceutical linkages, nutritional journals are supported by industry funding. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition lists some 28 companies supporting "selected educational activities of the Society." Sponsors of nutrition journals include Coca-Cola, Gerber, Nestle/Carnation, Monsanto, Procter & Gamble, Roche Vitamins, Slim-Fast Foods, and The Sugar Association, as well as others that manufacture infant feeding formulas, baby foods, functional foods, vitamins, diet foods, sugar-sweetened breakfast cereals, and genetically modified crops. There are other collaborations. An example is a joint effort of The American Dietetic Association with McDonald's to develop "Food FUNdamentals" toys as part of a shared "commitment to nutrition education." McDonald's featured the toys in a special "Happy Meals" promotion celebrating National Nutrition Month.

Food Politics is thoroughly documented, with 51 pages of references. The lengthy details may engross professionals, but may lose the average reader. The book presents a devastating picture of the influence of food corporations on governmental policies, health professional groups, and on shaping the food supply.

Nestle, an academic, presents the currently accepted views on basic nutrition. She endorses the largely plant-based diet, and frequently describes elements such as fats and supplements somewhat negatively. These views will be regarded by some as conventional views that are outmoded. However, this is a small quibble, in view of the overall worth of a thoroughly executed monumental work.