Entitled, ‘Why those 'super healthy' foods are simply a gimmick’ author Joanna Blythman takes a host of functional foods on the €1bn+ UK market to task for being, “nothing more than a dangerous gimmick”.
“Read the small print and you’ll quickly discover just how jam-packed they are with sugar, sweeteners, artificial colours, flavourings and preservatives,” Blythman writes after performing a “thorough investigation” of them.
“The problem is that they are marketed so effectively, it’s easy to see why the ‘worried well’ of Britain are spending more money on them than ever before, in the hope of achieving better health.”
She highlights ten products including European Food Safety Authority and European Union-approved, circulation-boosting tomato extract juice Sirco; drinking yoghurt Actimel, and EFSA and EU-approved, plant sterol/stanol-containing pro.activ spread and Benecol cream cheese.
All are questioned over efficacy and healthfulness due to the ingredients they contain.
Gimmicks?
Of Sirco, Blythman writes: “This juice contains a patented tomato extract called FruitFlow that ‘helps maintain healthy blood circulation’ — but you’d be better off eating a few tomatoes. The juice is made from concentrates and added water, not 100 per cent pure fruit juice.”
But in that case, it would take six whole tomatoes to achieve the same level of active constituents as can be found in a 250ml serving of Sirco, which has been verified under Europe’s strict health claim system.
For Actimel she says normal yoghurts are just as good as probiotic offerings, and many have less sweeteners.
“…yes, Actimel will promote digestive health, but so will any other live brand….When yogurt is as sweet as this, it’s either very high in sugar or a combination of sugar and sweeteners. This Actimel drink contains 3.5 per cent sugar, but it’s also made up of two sweeteners, artificial flavourings and a lot of starch and pectin, which act as thickeners.”
While probiotic claims for immunity and gut health are yet to win claims in Europe they have been approved in Canada, the US, Japan and many other countries.
Blythman questions pro.activ and Benecol where EFSA hasn’t by wondering, in the case of Benecol, whether plant stanols are not dangerous and whether cholesterol-lowering is not in fact overrated.
“…research has shown that consuming this sort of plant compound can also block absorption of vitamins by altering our digestive processes.”
“And is lowering cholesterol even necessary? Many independent nutritionists now challenge the idea that high cholesterol puts you at greater risk from heart attacks and strokes. We need cholesterol for making certain hormones and for other biological processes, such as making vitamin D and supporting neurological function.”
Of pro.activ she concludes: “It’s an entirely fake product. Give me butter any day!”