Are health foods really healthy? A rational look in one article
It has been 13 years since the "Health Food Act" took effect, but is health food really healthy?
You may have noticed that some yogurt and fermented milk bottles carry a "little green man" mark, indicating that they are health foods certified by the Department of Health. But if the "little green man" appears on carbonated drinks or chewing gum packaging, would you also agree that they are health foods?
Currently there are 205 certified and valid health foods in the country. The John Tung Foundation selected 74 common products for spot checks and found that 17 had questionable ingredients and nutritional value, for example too many flavorings, colorants, fragrances and other artificial additives, or milk advertised as promoting calcium absorption that is not 100% fresh milk. Even carbonated drinks can obtain Department of Health health food certification for "improving the bacterial flora in the intestines." Chin Hui-min, chairwoman of the Republic of China Dietitians Association, sharply criticized this and called on the Department of Health to hold public hearings to re-examine and amend the law.
Chin Hui-min said bluntly that the "Health Food Control Act," promoted by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin during his term as a legislator, is a "law uniquely invented in Taiwan." Health food is a concept abroad, and there has never been legislation for it, let alone government certification and endorsement for manufacturers. Chin Hui-min explained: "Perhaps the original legislative definition was good, in order to regulate domestic health foods, but it ignored deficiencies in the certification process and insufficient supporting measures. The Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Health is simply overwhelmed."
She, who once participated in reviews, said that the "substantive scientific evidence of efficacy" stipulated in the regulations is very vague. As long as manufacturers find a domestic university nutrition department to help conduct research and undergo review of health and safety assessments, they can apply to the Department of Health for certification. If scholars reject it because it does not meet health premises, they can find other scholars to redo it. However, the research process and scholars' comments do not need to be made public at all, disregarding consumer rights and interests, which she finds absurd.
The biggest problem with the "Health Food Act" is that the review of health foods only considers the safety or health efficacy of a single or a few specific ingredients, but ignores overall nutritional value, causing some government-endorsed health foods to be far less nutritious than ordinary foods.
Take a certain brand of milk advertised as able to "promote calcium absorption" as an example. In the certification experiment, calcium absorption rate was compared with calcium tablets, deliberately concealing that ordinary milk has the same effect, but in addition to milk, the product also contains milk powder and various artificial additives. As for "live bacteria fermented milk" that "can increase beneficial bacteria in the intestines and increase intestinal movement," it often only has lactic acid bacteria added, but its nutritional content is insufficient compared with ordinary fresh milk, and its sugar content is astonishing, so it is not suitable for children to drink after meals every day.
As for cooking oil for home cooks, consumers are often influenced by advertisements and choose sunflower oil or healthy cooking oil that "can lower total cholesterol," thinking that oil certified as "health food" is healthier, while ignoring that different oils should be used according to different cooking methods, and that to reduce blood lipid levels, one should consume more nuts, whole grains, vegetables and fruits, which cannot be achieved simply by eating "healthy oil."
In addition, many advertisements promote chewing gum after meals and enter schools with claims of "reducing dental plaque in the mouth and preventing cavities," and it has also received health food certification, but chewing gum actually contains fragrance, artificial sweeteners, gum base and various other food additives. By contrast, truly healthy foods such as whole-grain bread, vegetables and fruits, and fresh milk have not received any health food certification.
Chin Hui-min said: "The various nutrients in food have mutual supplementing, inhibiting and offsetting effects. Is it healthy to consume only a single ingredient? This is debatable. Moreover, why does the government need to endorse commercial products?" She suggested that the Department of Health re-examine the regulatory issues and consider withdrawing, adopting foreign practices and letting civil organizations carry out certification instead.
Lin Wei, a professor in the Department of Food and Health Nutrition at Chinese Culture University, said that after health foods depart from tablet or capsule form, in order to be sold in the form of ordinary food, they inevitably add sugar, fragrance and various food additives, but the "Health Food Control Act" completely ignores this. She has repeatedly made suggestions to the Department of Health, but there has never been any response. She suggested that "health food" should be renamed "foods with special functions" to avoid confusing consumers, and that assessments should be made based on long-term effects on human health, reducing the content of sugar, fat and artificial additives.
Lin Wei demanded that the Department of Health revoke certification for insufficiently healthy "health foods," that the "Health Food Control Act" must be re-examined and amended, and that consumers must also have health self-awareness and choose truly healthy foods, "Health food should be natural vegetables and fruits, whole-wheat bread, milk, rice. Before buying health food, first think about whether a normal diet can be called healthy?"
