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Quote of the day:

“The best advice is to avoid foods with health claims on the label, or better yet avoid foods with labels in the first place.”

— Mark Hyman

Greenwashing & Healthwashing

What is it?

Greenwashing & Heathwashing are practices of making false or misleading claims about the environmental benefits or nutritional ingredients of their products. Greenwashing is often used to make a company or product appear more environmentally friendly than it really is. Healthwashing is a marketing tactic used by companies to make their products appear healthier than they actually are.

These are both forms of deceptive marketing, which make it hard for consumers to detect them because of their misleading language. This is what causes confusion - and makes it even harder to separate the good products, from the bad ones.

For example, a company might claim that a product is "all natural", “non-toxic”, “cruelty -free” or "green," when in reality it contains synthetic ingredients or is made from materials that are not sustainable. Similarly, a company might use language like “gluten free”, “low fat” or “sugar free” to highlight one healthy aspect of a product while ignoring its unhealthy aspects.

Why does it matter?

Most of this is NOT regulated, leaving the consumer to fall prey to false claims and undermining the efforts of the companies whose claims are actually true. This is why it is extremely important to read labels and understand the ingredients of each product and not just fall for the creative product marketing. Whole foods are the best option when available.

We’re seeing this more and more as new trends pop up or new generations shed lights on problems. The beauty industry is another prime example of brands jumping on trend adding terms to new products like “clean beauty” and “paraben/sulfate free”, when in reality looking at the ingredients it is anything but.

On Wednesdays, Spring Forward will be highlighting ingredients to look out for and help you understand what actually lies in your products.

How is this allowed?

Healthwashing & Greenwashing are allowed because there are currently few regulations in place to prevent it and there is inadequate enforcement in place. Given the lack of clear definitions and guidelines for terms like "natural," "organic," “non-toxic” and "non-GMO," it makes it easier for companies to make these misleading claims.

There are more than 1300 substances / toxic ingredients in both food and cosmetics that are ban in the EU, and ONLY 11 are ban in the US. This means that you are the one that needs to pay attention to the ingredients, and on what you buy.

The FDA has only this small number of ingredients ban from being used in products and they have a list of "Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)" ingredients that are allowed, however the safety of them is not reviewed by the FDA.

Start today:

• Find a food product in your home

• Notice the marketing tactics on the front

• Read the label / ingredients on the back

• If there is something you don't recognize, it's likely not good for you

• Do not throw it away - finish it, and buy a cleaner alternative next time

Email / DM us if you need swaps or help reading a label

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