THE "SCIENCE" OF INDUSTRY 303C? No. Would I eat an orange because it is a healthy plant food with a
complex network of chemicals that almost certainly offer health ben-
efits? Absolutely.
I played a small role in this story a couple of decades ago. In the
1970s and 1980s, I appeared in a television ad for citrus fruits. A New
York public relations firm for the Florida Citrus Commission had ear-
lier interviewed me about fruit, nutrition and health. This interview,
unknown to me at the time, was the source of my presence on the ad.
I had not seen the ad and I did not get paid for it, but, nonetheless, I
was one of the talking heads that helped the Florida Citrus Commission
build its case for the vitamin C content of oranges. Why did I do the in-
terview? At that point in my career, I probably thought that the vitamin
C in oranges was important, and, regardless of vitamin C, oranges were
very healthy foods to eat.
It is very easy for scientists to get caught in the reductionism web of
thinking, even if they have other intentions. It has not been until recent-
ly, after a lifetime of research, that I have come to realize how damaging
it is to take details out of context and to make subsequent claims about
diet and health. Industry uses these details extremely well, and the re-
sult is public confusion. Every year, it seems, some new product is being
touted as the key to good health. The situation is so bad that "health"
sections of grocery stores are often stocked more with supplements and
special preparations of seemingly magic ingredients than they are with
real food. Don't be tricked: the healthiest section of any store is the place
where they sell whole fruits and vegetables-the produce section.
Perhaps worst of all, industry corrupts scientific evidence even when
its product has been linked to serious health problems. Our kids are of-
ten the most coveted targets of their marketing. The American govern-
ment has passed legislation preventing cigarette and alcohol companies
from marketing their products to children. Why have we ignored food?
Even though it is accepted that food plays a major role in many chronic
diseases, we allow food industries not only to market directly to chil-
dren, but also to use our publicly-funded school systems to do it. The
long-term burden of our short-sighted indiscretion is incalculable.