Jul 22, 2008 4:41 pm US/Eastern
Foods Promising Better Health May Not Deliver
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
We've all become accustomed to seeing "new" and "improved" on products at the grocery store. But now more foods are promising better health.
What troubles consumer advocates is that there is very little regulation requiring food manufacturers to back up many of those claims.
Since it is no fun getting sick, the idea that all you have to do is drink an immunity enhanced water or an antioxidant rich juice to stay healthy can be pretty appealing.
One shopper told WBZ she thought it was great that products are offering those benefits. But the concern with many of these self proclaimed disease fighting foods is that they won't really deliver.
Edgar Dworsky of
Consumerworld.org said "What we are seeing now are these quasi health claims, pseudo health claims, that don't have to be pre-approved and that is where the deception can come in."
Now some consumer groups are asking the federal government to crack down on these claims, because they believe it is deceptive and a waste of money.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking for tighter regulations. Currently, only products that make a specific health claim are regulated, but not those that make a broad or unspecific promise.
Melanie Pearsall, a nutritionist at Mass General Hospital, says the best play to get antioxidants is from fruits and vegetables, particularly those that are bright colors.
She worries about the other ingredients consumers could be getting from some of these products.
"They go, oh, I am going to buy this, and they don't look at the label to say, maybe the product has a lot of fat in it, or sugar." She thinks many of the claims that these products make about warding off illness are bogus.
As it gets tougher and tougher to stretch a dollar at the grocery store these days, these products might not be a wise investment.
"They are charging you for a premium for something that could only add a penny or two to the cost for the manufacturer. So you are paying extra for a little bit of a two-cent vitamin in the product," said Dworsky.
For busy consumers, the claims are just one more thing to try and figure out. One shopper said "I do think that it's something that would be good for my health, but in reality, I question it because most things are not properly labeled."
In general, the food manufacturers respond that they are not doing anything outside the current FDA regulations. Most also add a disclaimer that their product needs to be part of a healthy diet and lifestyle.
To read the entire letter from the Center for the Science in the Public Interest to the FDA, click
here.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments