The Business of Health

It is hard to know what to eat in this "eat this, don't eat that" world. There are conflicting reports on the news everyday about what's good for you and what's not. Then there are thousands of diets and books on dieting. High carb, low carb, high protein, cabbage soup, low fat, no fat, raw food, yada yada yada. It is mind boggling for the average person. What if someone were to tell us what to eat by stamping a well known logo on healthy food options? That would help right? Not so much. I was saddened after watching Marketplace last month. They were reviewing the Health Check endorsement by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. What consumers don't realize when they bring home a cartload of "healthy" products with that nice little stamp on it, is that they aren't necessarily buying "healthy" items as much as they are buying "healthier" items. It is all relative. Frozen french fries, frozen microwave dinners, and canned soups don't fall under the category of "healthy" but I supposed they are "healtier" than say a big mac and deep fried french fries. Know what's healthier? A lot of items in the grocery store that do not have that fancy check mark on it because they come from companies (and farmers) who don't pay the H & S Foundation for inclusion in the program. (This is for cost recovery purposes, as the Health Check program is not-for-profit.)

I am not totally knocking the program....mostly because I don't feel I have the expertise, nor the backbone to handle to flack I might take for doing so. I think the onus should still be on individuals to educate themselves and employ common-sense when buying fuel for the body. And if we do want a treat from time to time, perhaps it does help to choose the treat item with a health check symbol on it. And I really do understand that the program was established to help guide consumers toward less evil items. However, we are talking about an organization who people turn to for the latest and greatest on how to keep our hearts ticking! I think it is more than a tad confusing to see frozen fries and high sodium frozen dinners as healthy items. Especially given the fact that the H&SF preaches lowering daily sodium levels.

I guess it is pretty tough to make a stamp stick to piece of broccoli.

For more on the Marketplace study see, http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/hyping_health/

-JL