'It's irresponsible': Dietitians under scrutiny for sponsored posts promoting consumption of sugar
CTV
A trade association and several registered dietitians in Canada have come under scrutiny for promoting the consumption of sugar using potentially deceptive marketing practices, which experts say raise serious conflict of interest concerns.
A trade association and several registered dietitians in Canada have come under scrutiny for promoting the consumption of sugar-containing products using potentially deceptive marketing practices, which experts say raise serious conflict of interest concerns.
The Canadian Sugar Institute and two B.C.-based registered dietitians were among a list of parties who were publicly denounced by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week for employing marketing practices that “may be deceptive or unfair” in violation of the FTC Act.
The FTC said it issued warning letters to the parties for allegedly failing to adequately disclose that the dietitians were paid to promote the safety of aspartame and sugar-containing products on social media. An American trade association, 10 other registered dietitians and online health influencers also received warning letters.
A recent Toronto Star and Investigative Journalism Bureau investigation, which comes on the heels of the FTC’s notice, found a total of two dozen Canadian registered dietitians who have posted content on social media sponsored by the country’s largest sugar producers.
"It’s irresponsible for any trade group to hire influencers to tout its members’ products and fail to ensure that the influencers come clean about that relationship,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a news release.
“That’s certainly true for health and safety claims about sugar and aspartame, especially when made by registered dietitians and others upon whom people rely for advice about what to eat and drink.”
CTV News reached out to the two B.C.-based dietitians named by the FTC — Jenn Messina and Lindsay Pleskot — for comment, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
