It has finally become an accepted fact and we can hear a multitude of voices say “I told you so”! Increasingly, people are making the connection between food and health. This new yet old breakthrough may seem astonishing if we consider that 400 years before Jesus Christ, Hippocrates wrote “Let food be your medicine...”. Obviously, scientific and technological advances have allowed us to refine Hippocrates’ observations. In fact, we’ve identified nutriments that have a negative impact on health when consumed in excessive quantities, such as saturated fats and sodium. Similarly, nutriments that positively affect human health, such as omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants have also been discovered. These advances opened new and promising fields of multidisciplinary study which are embodied by the Neutraceuticals and Functional Foods Institute (NIAF) of Université Laval of which I am a research-member.

Paradoxically, western consumers, North Americans in particular, seem to have lost contact with food as a whole, with the overall perspective of their diets. The list of ingredients and the nutritional facts chart are slowly replacing our ability to distinguish what is essentially good or bad for our health. To illustrate this phenomena, a French colleague of mine once said “You North Americans, you’re not longer concerned with eating food, you’re only concerned with nutrients”.

This is true; the many logos vying for space on our food packaging may lead to confusion. Just as recently as last week, I bought a bag of chips sporting the healthy food logo “smart selections made easy”. Are these potato chips actually good for me? I don’t think so. All a manufacturer need do to be authorized to use the logo is to meet the following criteria: “[Snacks] is an extension of an existing line of snacks and contains at least 25% less calories, fat ,sugar or sodium compared with the base product…”¹ In this particular case, the ‘healthy’ potato chips contained 50% less sodium than its regular alternative.

However, one 100 g serving of these “smart spot smart selections” chips contained 560 calories, 50% of the daily recommended intake of fat, 14% of the sodium (salt) intake and 0% of your daily calcium requirement. Not exactly a healthy snack. The problem is that 100 g of fruit yogurt does not necessarily have the “smart selections made easy”² logo. And yet it contains a mere 60 calories, provides only 1% of your recommended daily fat intake, 3% sodium and a whopping 10% of your calcium requirement, which makes it a better and healthier snack choice. So what is the message being suggested to consumers?

This kind of inconsistency is more typical than unique. The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency was well intentioned when it decided to categorize foods that were high in fat, sugar or salt as junk food. However, English dairy producers were stunned to realize that several types of cheese were also thrown into the junk food category along with candy because of their high milk fat content³ . This exemplifies the danger of food classification which is based exclusively on nutriments regardless of the food’s complete nutritional profile. Furthermore, French dairy producers are opposed to European legislative project focusing on health claims that, according to proposed regulations, would prevent milk and milk products from being qualified as a source of calcium while allowing calcium enriched orange juice to claim the vitamin benefit.

Québec’s agrifood industry should take note. There are risks in promoting products from a nutriment point of view to the exclusion of all others. Contrary to what has so far occurred, numerous studies have shown that the interactive effects of dairy products are potentially more important than those of its nutrients alone.⁴ When we make products that are naturally whole and healthy, then we should boast their benefits high and loud and hope that common sense will triumph in the end.

Professor Doyon

Maurice Doyon is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics and Consumer Science, Université Laval. He is also a member of the Centre de Recherche en Économie agroalimentaire (CRÉA) with that same department, auxiliary professor with the University of Maine, associate researcher with the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations in Montréal and associate researcher with the Neutraceuticals and Functional Foods Institute (NIAF). Furthermore, he holds a doctorate degree in Applied Economics from Cornell University, as well as a Master’s degree from this same institution. Mr. Doyon has received over fifteen grants and merits throughout his distinguished academic career.

1	www.smartspot.ca/how_snack_criteria.php
2	If yogurt and potato chips were both identified with the same logo, there would be a greater risk of confusion because consumers might consider both products equal.
3	Source: Bill Dimmick, The Milk Producer, May 2007.
4	Act from the STELA Symposium, May 28, 2007.