Perception Management - The Food Industry and Nutrition Professionals

The Food Industry and Nutrition Professionals

Food and beverage manufacturers can manage the perceptions of consumers by controlling information on food labels. The FDA requires a label on most food sold in grocery stores. However, the FDA does not regulate dietary supplements. Many chain restaurants also try to make their food appear to be healthier but it is too large of a portion. Fast food restaurants use advertising to make their food appear healthier when they have not changed anything about it either. Consumers have to consider where their health and nutrition information is coming from. When one gets nutrition information from the media, one is getting it from the food industry and companies that stand to benefit from customers purchasing their products. On labels and packaging there are many different perception management techniques they use.

Here are some deceptive practices:

• Distribute sugar amounts among many ingredients
• Include "healthy" ingredients to make it appear to be healthy
• Use scientific names of ingredients to mask their nutritional value
• Use advertising or catch phrases sell their product
• Not including containments (heavy metal, toxic substances)
• Using phrases like "zero grams of trans fat" because there is less than one gram in the serving size. This means there can be more than a gram on trans fat in the product though.
• Saying that a product is "packed in fiber" when that fiber may not be whole grain fiber. That means the fiber is coming from a less nutritious or healthy source.
• Using doctor recommendations or seals of approval on products to sell them. Companies are not even required to have doctors say that to use it on their packaging.
• A product and be "low fat" but that does not mean it is low in calories. A product's name can also be misleading. Take for instance, high fructose corn syrup. The food industry is advertising how high fructose corn syrup is made from corn, does not have artificial ingredients, has the same calories as sugar and is fine when used in moderation. Despite its name, high fructose corn syrup is simply a sugar made from corn—or an added sugar in the diet. It is not high in fructose as its name would suggest. High fructose corn syrup is composed of the same two simple sugars (fructose and glucose) as table sugar, honey and maple syrup.

Organic Food Industry
Many myths about the organic food industry have been spreading from either public fear or rare stories reported in the news. The International Federation of Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) cited 42 of these myths about organic food and provided counterarguments to them. A few are listed below.

• Myth 2: No pattern of research that declares a difference in nutrition between organic and non-organic food

Counter-argument: Organics have proven to have lower level of pesticides, they contain higher amounts of vitamins and minerals, and do not have hydrogenated fats. They go on to describe in detail each of these arguments in the article.

• Myth 3: The organic food industry is responsible for spreading fear about conventionally produced products so that they can increase their profit.

Counter-argument: The same thing happens with the conventional production companies spreading fear about organic foods, advertisement about the benefits of organic produce is done largely by individuals and not the companies themselves.

• Myth 4: You are more likely to get food poisoning from organic food because they potentially have more dangerous bacteria due to the lack of pesticide use.
• Myth 7: The pesticides that organic farming uses may be natural, but actually are more harmful because they are less effective and thus used in higher quantities.

Counter-argument: Farmers only use natural pesticides when all other measures have been used, continual research is being done to find alternatives to even the natural pesticides applied to the fields.

Nutrition Professionals
Perception management is essentially a means for which an image or reputation can be created and maintained, whether it is true or not. On September 24, 2011, The American Dietetic Association announced it would change its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In this case, the ADA is adjusting its name to more accurately describe the organization. According to Escott-Stump, "The name Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics promotes the strong science background and academic expertise of our members." It is thought that by adding the word nutrition to its name, the organization is better able to communicate its ability to transfer nutritional science and research into healthy lifestyles and foods everyone can understand. Also, by keeping dietetics, it creates a connection between the new research and the history and reputation ADA has as a food and science-based profession. Escott-Stump reassured the public that although the name is changing, the organization's mission will remain the same as it has been for nearly 100 years.