“Eat this and die.” Two Steps to Outsmart Media Marketing of Fear

By publishing anything claiming to have a whiff of scientific basis, assigning it a nefarious headline and relinquishing responsibility to verify its legitimacy, media counter their own noble pursuit by contributing to consumer confusion instead of being a beacon of clear, reliable information.“Carcinogenic pesticide found in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream” and “Chemical in mac and cheese tied to birth defects” are among the latest alarming headlines.Often, media outlets hungry for content and short on staff simply post news releases verbatim – no scrutiny applied – from an author, company, advocacy group or public relations firm. One recent example is “These 7 foods are scientifically proven to put you in a bad mood” article, which was picked up by many media outlets including AOL, MSN and Glamour.With a simple 10-minute search for the science behind each claim (if scientific studies were even provided), I discovered the article didn’t “prove” much of anything. As is the case here, so often science “suggests” a link or claims consuming a certain ingredient (in unrealistic, outrageous amounts in many cases) “may” cause various health conditions.The mere presence of a chemical in a food doesn’t make it harmful, but often stories lead us to believe otherwise.