As the World Health Organization shares the risks of the artificial sweetener Aspartame, “influencer” dietitians got paid to share videos promoting its safety.
Food industries are paying dietitians with large social media audiences to endorse diet sodas, sugar, and dietary supplements in the form of paid partnerships with different companies. The #safetyofaspartame hashtag began spreading on Instagram and TikTok as a result of the promotion.
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This trend gained momentum, particularly after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised concerns about the safety of a popular artificial sweetener. A new hashtag, #safetyofaspartame, has emerged among the posts of health professionals on social media, aiming to challenge the WHO’s warnings.
Steph Grasso, a registered dietitian based in Oakton, Virginia, joined this campaign by using the hashtag. She addressed her substantial following of 2.2 million TikTok followers, dismissing the WHO’s artificial sweetener warnings as “clickbait” and being grounded in “low-quality science.”
Steph Grasso 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.”
Cara Harbstreet reassured her Instagram followers not to worry about “fear mongering headlines” about… pic.twitter.com/EIL8hZBmI4
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 13, 2023
The WHO had suggested that aspartame, a key ingredient in Diet Coke and other soft drinks, was ineffective for weight loss and potentially carcinogenic.
The American Beverage trade group orchestrated this coordinated effort, involving at least 35 posts from a group of health professionals. They paid an undisclosed sum to ten registered dietitians, along with a physician and a fitness influencer, to leverage their social media presence in refuting the WHO’s claims.
“Food companies are not social service agencies, and they’re not public health agencies, they’re businesses,” said Marion Nestle, an emeritus professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “You do not want dietary guidelines to say anything negative about your products, and [food companies] will go to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure that no federal agency says anything negative about their products.”
The Shocking Truth Behind the Food Industry's Manipulation ⛔️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/qQXi9azsVr
— Rob Moore (@robprogressive) September 11, 2023
According to an investigative analysis conducted by The Washington Post and The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom specializing in global public health reporting, revealed that various entities within the food, beverage, and dietary supplement industries are compensating numerous registered dietitians with large followings.
These dietitians are asked to promote products conveying messages aligning with industry interests on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
These messages starkly contrast with established scientific evidence on healthy eating practices. Among the 68 dietitians analyzed, each boasting over 10,000 social media followers on TikTok or Instagram, approximately half had endorsed food, beverages, or supplements to their combined following of 11 million users within the past year.
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