Some dietitians have questioned the relationship between the academy and food and beverage companies. Two of the academy’s sponsors are American Beverage and Tate & Lyle, one of the world’s largest producers of high-fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners. The academy has allowed these companies to provide continuing education courses to its dietitians and has invested in food industry stocks. The food and beverage industry has for years nurtured a close relationship with the academy, which has accepted millions of dollars in donations from leading producers of soda, candy and ultra-processed foods, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé. So far, the board has not received any complaints about social media activities, Wright said.Ĭlose ties between the food industry and dietitians The academy has a board of ethics that reviews allegations that dietitians have violated its ethical code and can impose penalties, including revoking a dietitian’s license, if it finds that a violation took place. Lauri Wright, the academy’s president, said the group educates its members “so that dietitians know what that line is and how not to cross that line.” The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the trade group that oversees registered dietitians, has a code of ethics that says that dietitians should disclose conflicts of interest and avoid “accepting gifts or services which potentially influence or which may give the appearance of influencing professional judgment.” “No one on either side of the table thinks the FTC has the resources to really police this marketplace. “When you don’t have sufficient enforcement, companies think they can get away with it,” Vladeck said. Food and Drug Administration and other health authorities have said aspartame is safe and disagreed with the WHO’s warnings. Out of 35 videos, 11 specifically named the association or “AmeriBev” as the partner at the time the videos were first posted, according to the beverage group.Ī spokesman said the campaign was warranted because the U.S. “They’re getting these dietitians to essentially do their marketing for them,” said Marlene Schwartz, the director of the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health.Īmerican Beverage said the dietitians who participated in its campaign adequately disclosed their relationships to the trade association by flagging the posts as paid partnerships or listing the #safetyofaspartame hashtag or the website, which includes the American Beverage logo at the bottom of the page. By paying registered dietitians - health professionals who specialize in nutrition - the food industry is moving beyond the world of ordinary online influencers to harness the prestige of credentialed experts to deliver commercial messages. The strategy of enlisting dietitians on social media has allowed the industry to extend its vast reach and promote often-questionable nutrition advice to new generations of teenage and Gen Z eaters and millennial parents accustomed to finding news and health advice on social media. The Federal Trade Commission advises all social media influencers to be clear about who is paying them for promotions. While some dietitians noted in their social media posts that they were part of paid partnerships, their relationships with the food industry were in many cases not made explicit to viewers, the analysis found. The review found that among 68 dietitians with 10,000 or more social media followers on TikTok or Instagram, about half had promoted food, beverages or supplements to their combined 11 million followers within the last year. The analysis of thousands of posts found that companies and industry groups paid dietitians for content that encouraged viewers to eat candy and ice cream, downplayed the health risks of highly processed foods and pushed unproven supplements - messages that run counter to decades of scientific evidence about healthy eating. The food, beverage and dietary supplement industries are paying dozens of registered dietitians that collectively have millions of social media followers to help sell products and deliver industry-friendly messages on Instagram and TikTok, according to an analysis by The Washington Post and The Examination, a new nonprofit newsroom specializing in global public health reporting. The campaign, which the beverage group acknowledged organizing, highlighted a little-known tactic the multibillion-dollar food and beverage industry is using to sway consumers faced with often-contradictory health messages about popular products.
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