The dirty side of CLEAN EATING

Are ‘natural’ health foods really worth the hype?

- MADISON BOGISCH

Whether you’re wandering the supermarket aisles or scrolling social media, clean eating is everywhere. Put simply, clean eating refers to consuming foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, to reap the perceived benefits of wholefoods.

“Along with the rise of clean beauty, clean eating and clean supplements are also now exploding in popularity, with people opting for products that use less nasty ingredients,” says Steve Collins, nutritionist and founder of gut health supplement brand My Way Up. “People are becoming more conscious and savvier about what they put into their bodies, which is a great thing.”

However, with this awareness has come a new trend to watch out for: the “health halo effect”. Essentially, it’s the use of buzzwords like “raw”, “clean” or “natural” to promote products, even when there’s no evidence to back these claims up.

Here, we debunk the dirty marketing strategies that brands use in a clean-eating consumer world.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A HEALTH HALO?

“Clean washing, or the health halo effect, occurs when food companies overestimate how healthy a food is based on claims such as low in calories or low fat or additive free,” says Endeavour College nutrition instructor and nutritionist Sophie Scott. “However, the terms ‘clean’, ‘natural’ and ‘raw’ are not regulated in Australia.”