Do Not Be Fooled By Healthwashing

After "feminism washing" and "greenwashing", here is the "healthwashing". This type of marketing wants to sell you products that are good for you. But what is really behind these claims?

Children running to catch a nice slice of Nutella to taste after school. The image is softening us. The subliminal message is that the spread is good for them. There would be as much milk in a kinder as in a glass of milk and morning cereals would help our children grow up. Oops, these products are stuffed with oil (palm) and sugar. We were well let by marketing. These three examples are typical of healthwashing. Ubiquitous, it's an industry response to food scandals but also a desire of consumers to eat better and consume better.

Take for example the ranges of fruit juice. No, drinking fruit juice isn't so good for your health and it will always be better to eat a whole fruit. A glass of grape juice is sweeter than a coca for example. Brands like Tropicana or Danao have released fruit juices with cereals.

Tropicana sends us beautifully recycled paper tags. Rich in vitamins. Yes... but also in sugars! For a glass of 20cl, it's actually 30g of this white gold that you put on. Five beautiful pieces of sugar in one glass. Almost as much as a glass of coca. As a reminder, the World Health Organization recommends 25g of sugar per day or 4 pieces.

Sugar in incognito mode

The packaging shouldn't misunderstand you. The fruit photos on the packages for example. If we take the case of yogurt, there're three pieces of sugar for a single pot. Organic products can be packaged in green cartons but contain palm oil. The K Specials, packed in beautiful boxes with cereal sprigs, are as sweet as regular cereals.

Oh, cereals! You are promised complete everywhere. The cereal bars sometimes presented to us as the perfect snack is for many very sweet. On the same principle, it's found in breakfast cakes or in whole-wheat bread.

Sugar is often the main secret agent who tries to sneak under the beautiful names. And if you look good, there's even sugar in some ready-to-eat industrial salads or organic pesto sauces. Likewise, 0% fat doesn't mean 0 calories!

"Healthy yogurts" with unseen benefits

The terms "no coloring, no preservatives and no artificial flavors" or the addition of vitamins, iron or magnesium can hide a high level of carbohydrates. And if a recipe claims no sugar, check that it doesn't contain ersatz. Sweeteners are suspected of promoting type 2 diabetes.

The more you are blinded with claims, the more you have to be wary. The "yogurt health" even became a topic in its own right on merchant sites. For example, it's not proven that gorging on yogurt rich in calcium and vitamin D will help strengthen your bones and, by extension, prevent your body from osteoporosis.

The action of probiotics present in certain ranges is also not proven. This is what a Swiss study recalls. Since 2007, the European Union has been regulating health claims. The Directorate General of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) explain on its website: "all health claims concerning microorganisms (such as" probiotics ") were rejected and most health claims about the antioxidant properties of substances or foodstuffs were also rejected". Margarine supposed to fight cholesterol have also not proven themselves, according to the National Health Security Agency.

When we try to sell you a food product with a scientific halo, ask yourself questions. The same goes for cosmetics, where brands bombard us with complicated terms to impress us. The simple mention "dermatologically tested" for example simply means that the product has been tested on the skin... systematic approach before placing on the market. So, putting a nice macaron on his product isn't binding and isn't mandatory but provides just a scientific guarantee.

The sports deposit

The mention "traditional recipe" doesn't mean much either. You will be able to find traditional charcuterie with sugar and nitrites or waffles from the north in palm oil. Grandma had hidden my secret ingredient!

In healthwashing, there's also the fact of associating the name of its brand with sport or sportsmen. McDonald's, with its beautiful red and yellow logo, turned green and yellow, but also Coca-Cola is partners of the Olympic Games. Quick partners with basketball player Tony Parker to sell hamburgers.

Conclusion: beware of beautiful green labels or highlighting vegan, gluten-free or natural recipes. Your first instinct when shopping is to look carefully at the nutrition charts and ingredients. And your best weapon is homemade. Because at least you know what's on your plate.