The food industry pays 'influencer' dietitians to shape your eating habits (WP)

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/09/13/dietitian-instagram-tiktok-paid-food-industry/
https://archive.ph/pKK31

The food industry pays ‘influencer’ dietitians to shape your eating habits
Registered dietitians are being paid to post videos that promote diet soda, sugar and supplements on Instagram and TikTok
By Anahad O’Connor, Caitlin Gilbert and Sasha Chavkin
September 13, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

As the World Health Organization raised questions this summer about the risks of a popular artificial sweetener, a new hashtag began spreading on the social media accounts of health professionals: #safetyofaspartame.

Steph Grasso, a registered dietitian from Oakton, Va., used the hashtag and told her 2.2 million followers on TikTok that the WHO warnings about artificial sweeteners were “clickbait” based on “low-quality science.” ...

In all, at least 35 posts from a dozen health professionals were part of the coordinated campaign by American Beverage. The trade group paid an undisclosed amount to 10 registered dietitians, as well as a physician and a fitness influencer, to use their social media accounts to help blunt the WHO’s claims that aspartame, a mainstay of Diet Coke and other sodas, is ineffective for weight loss and “possibly carcinogenic.”

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 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 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.

...

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Why is this a surprise? It shouldn't be, as it seems that in every Industry, there are influencers

of every stripe. It's to the point that I personally ignore every one of these so called 'influencers' since it seems like they in cahoots w/ the manufacturers etc.

[dalton99a]

2. +1. Rule of Thumb: "Influencers" are paid to influence

[SWBTATTReg]

4. I'm aware of this. Just how many influencers do we need really? There comes a saturation

point to where it's worthless.

[inthewind21]

5. None

We NEED zero. But since the American public clearly needs others to do their thinking for them, it will continue.

[DFW]

3. A dietician promoting aspartame

That’s like a cardiologist promoting Big Macs with fries to people with arteriosclerosis.

They should try Puticillin (jumping out of a tenth floor window) instead. It’s quicker.