“Do All Foods Really Fit In A Healthy Diet?”

Many thanks to Dana Woldow of Beyond Chron, San Francisco’s alternative online daily, for covering our efforts and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Big Food ties.

This article, titled “Do All Foods Really Fit In A Healthy Diet?”, examines how the Academy’s corporate partnerships affect the organization’s messaging.

Highlights:

• “Billed as the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, AND also sponsors the accrediting agency for education programs that prepare dietetics professionals. The Academy sets the curriculum for US dietetic training programs, creates the exams RD students must pass, issues all RD credentials, and controls continuing education – a complete lock on the profession. While it may make sense to have one organization in charge of every aspect of dietitian education, it becomes problematic when that organization is perceived as being too heavily influenced by the food industry.”

• “Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are both on the official list of Academy corporate sponsors; a longer list of AND Foundation corporate donors appears on the last page of the Foundation’s Donor Report, and includes Hershey, Mars, Con-Agra, and other Big Food companies.

• “AND’s official position on “good vs bad” foods is that “the total diet or overall pattern of food eaten is the most important focus of healthy eating. All foods can fit within this pattern if consumed in moderation with appropriate portion size and combined with physical activity.” Given that supermarket store shelves are bulging with sodas in containers ranging from a petite 8 oz can up to a giant 2 liter bottle (equal to more than 67 oz), choosing a 16 oz bottle may seem like “moderation.”