Well…earlier this month, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) held their annual conference, the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) in Boston. I checked the floor plan of this conference that supposedly is to further the education and knowledge of registered dietitians and nutritionist (they are registered with AND). Well, you can guess which companies dominate the trade show floor space at this “educational” event: junk food and snack companies such as Pepsico, Nestle (the parent company of all the wonderful disease promoting foods such as Butterfinger and KitKat bars, that we give out on Halloween to innocent children to help get them started early in life with metabolic disorders that will in all likelihood lead to chronic diseases later in life.) WHAT? Yes, AND continues to tout itself as the gold-standard governing body of professionals who are in the business of helping people eat healthier. Money can buy just about anything, and it is more than evident at this “health” event.
But wait! There is some really good news!
1. Untainted scientific evidence has provided us with the knowledge of what the healthiest foods are to eat in order to live a longer, disease free life and it ain’t KitKat bars. Thank you, science!
2. Ethical nutrition and health professionals who are fed up with AND turning a blind eye to true public health in favor of corporate funding have created an alternative organization called Dietitians for Professional Integrity (DPI), which boldly and publicly calls out the insane conflict of interest of AND. These maverick pros of health and nutrition have said “enough” and actually acknowledge the overwhelming scientific evidence of what constitutes good nutrition and put it to use to help their clients change their eating behavior for the better. The simple fact that this organization even exists should shine a bright light on the dubious practice of what is going on in the world of nutrition, the food industry, and powerful special interests that only care about sales, not health. Thank you, Dietitians for Professional Integrity, for having the passion and guts to stand up to what is obviously a very misguided organization. This is a TREAT! Check out their web-site here.
Buy the way, Coca-Cola abruptly ended its long sponsorship of AND last year after is was revealed by the New York Times that the company helped to create and sponsor yet another dubious organization called the Global Energy Balance Network. This network did everything it could to pivot the discussion about the dangers of junk food to EXERCISE for obesity control. This has become the common tactic for all junk food companies in an attempt to deflect the bad nutrition news that continues to rain down on them. How much did Coca-Cola spent? Thus far, a little over $118 million dollars.
The truth is self-evident! Protect your family!