Attendees at a conference for dietitians pass by a booth sponsored by Coca Cola, in Houston. As Americans struggle to improve their eating habits, big food companies are educating the professionals who help guide people on what’s healthy and what’s not.HOUSTON – Snack and soda makers that often are blamed for fueling the nation’s obesity rates also play a role in educating the dietitians who advise Americans on healthy eating.
Frito-Lay, Kellogg, Coca-Cola and others are essentially teaching the teachers. Their workshops and online classes for the nation’s dietitians are part of a behind-the-scenes effort to burnish the images of their snacks and drinks.
The practice has raised ethical concerns among some who say it gives the food industry too much influence over dietitians, who take the classes to earn the education credits they need to maintain their licenses.
“It’s not education. It’s PR,” said Andy Bellatti, a Las Vegas-based dietitian who helped found Dietitians for Professional Integrity, a group of about a dozen dietitians who are calling for an end to the practice.
With two-thirds of Americans considered overweight or obese, the makers of processed foods have shouldered much of the blame for aggressively marketing sugary and salty products. Critics say companies use the classes, which are usually free and more convenient than other courses dietitians can take, as a way to cast their products in a positive nutritional light. Not to mention that companies often collect the contact information of dietitians to mail them samples or coupons, in some cases to distribute to their patients.