Spotting Nutrition Quackery

The other assignment for my nutrition class that is for my nutrition class as well that I also want you to do is the following:

One of the stated goals for this course is to develop educated consumers of nutrition information. This is especially important for the vast amount of information about nutrition and health on the internet since anyone can put up anything and pass it off as legitimate, authenticated, accurate information. Distinguishing between fact and fiction, exaggeration and misrepresentation, and authentic and useful nutrition products and scams require critical thinking and analysis. Learning to think critically about nutrition research is another important goal. For example, we hear that we should be drinking wine every day to benefit our hearts. Does the research really say that? Should we all start drinking wine to help prevent cardiovascular disease?

The rubric for grading this forum is the last item on this page. Refer to it before writing your threads.

Directions for the Informed Consumer Forum


Step 1: Do a web search for nutrition- or food-related product that claims to have health benefits such as preventing cancer, curing psoriasis, losing weight, etc. etc. In your discussion, explain what gave the scam away – why you felt the site and its advertised product lacks authenticity or fails to provide a scientific basis for its claims.

Note: Strategies for evaluating nutrition misinformation and quackery are given in the article “How to Spot Nutrition Misinformation on the Web” (linked below), as well as in your text, pages 25-30.

Step 2: Now find another product or food-related product that you feel makes claims that are authentic or are based on scientific research. Compare it with the one in Step 1, using the same criteria. To find a reputable site, you can use the resources listed on the first page of our Course Content section.

Note: Be sure to include the URL for both sites so that we can review them as well.

Step 3: Write your thread comparing the products directly to the Nutrition Quackery Forum using the link provided below. Remember that to get full credit for your post, you must have two products to compare: one with fraudulent claims or misinformation, and one supported by scientific research from a credible source. Your discussion should clearly state differentiate between the two. Complete URLs for both sites must be provided.