For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Health Issues page.

Can you rely on the government to provide objective, health-promoting dietary advice via the food guide now known as MyPlate? The short answer to that question is “No.” The reality of how government bows to food-industry interests is shocking, and most certainly plays a role in the obesity epidemic.

How about registered dietitians (RDs)? Surely you can trust their advice? After all, their
specialty is nutrition and food science.

Disturbingly, a recent report exposing the deep conflicts of interest between the processed food industry and the trade organization for food- and nutrition professionals in the US shatters any illusion you may have had that RDs are the go-to source for well-researched, science-based nutrition advice that will improve your health…

The report, aptly titled:
And Now a Word from Our Sponsors… Are America’s Nutrition Professionals in the Pocket of Big Food? is written by Michele Simon, who has practiced public health law as long as I’ve been doing this site – about 17 years.

Many of you may not be aware that public health law even exists as a specialty, but it does. Michele has been a real white-hat advocate for public health, developing strategies to fight corporate tactics that deceive and manipulate you.

Michele’s motivation for entering into public health law began with her own foray into eating a plant-based diet and learning more about the impact of nutrition on health.

“I realized that there weren’t many people at that time making the connection between what we eat and our government policies,” she says. “I look at the politics of food and then apply my legal background to expose the various ways the industry influences our government policies and so forth.”

Her most recent expose involves the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly known as the American Dietetic Association), and the corporate politics involved in making public dietary recommendations.