i.
A healthier option
ii. Asian countries know best
iii. Fast food companies go healthy
iv. A growing business
v. Importance of good eating habits
vi. Mixed messages
vii. A return to dairy products
viii. Healthy becomes unhealthy
ix. Allergies to dairy
x. Concern over negative reaction to mixed messages
1. Paragraph C
2. Paragraph D
3. Paragraph E
4. Paragraph G
5. Paragraph H
Good for you or not good for you? That is the question.
A At no time in history has the world’s population ever been so well-informed about nutrition and
health. Consumers in the developed world are constantly bombarded with advertising messages which
promote the health benefits of a wide range of food products. However, they are also exposed to the
constant promotion of junk food as well. Fast food companies have become sensitive to the criticisms
they face over the potential damage their food causes and have begun to vigorously defend the
nutritional value of the meals they serve. With this constant flow of messages – often contradictory –
how are today’s consumers supposed to determine precisely what is healthy to eat?
B According to nutritionist Susan McCaskill, many people today intend to eat healthily, but have
become confused about how to do so. “It is not just that the traditional definitions of a healthy diet have
changed, though this is certainly significant. Many grew up being told that the more milk you drank, the
healthier you would be. Then dairy foods became ‘bad’ in the eyes of many health professionals and
many people sought alternatives to it. Now these alternatives are coming under the same sort of
criticism.”
C The alternative McCaskill is referring to is soya milk. A generation of consumers who were labeled
allergic to cow’s milk products embraced soya substitutes enthusiastically. In fact, the soya bean itself
was promoted as a kind of miracle food overall. Claims were made it had the potential to not only
provide all the protein required for a healthy diet, but that it could prevent heart disease and cancer.
Slogans such as “It’s Soy Good for you...” began to appear in nutritional advice columns.
D Now suddenly you can find messages on health-related websites claiming “It’s not soy good” and
even “It’s SOY bad for you.” A generation of health-conscious eaters who previously abandoned milk
products for soy are now worried and confused. The same chemicals (known as isoflavones) in soya
beans which were claimed to fight cancer and other diseases are now listed as the cause of some
cancers, and are also implicated in hormonal problems and thyroid gland disorders. Dr David Steinman
of the Eastern Sydney University Medical School considers the praise of soya products in many
alternative health circles to be without scientific foundation. “Soya proponents suggest we look to the
health statistics of Asian countries as proof of the benefits of soy. When we look closely at the countries
where soya products are consumed regularly, it is clear that though they are widely used, they are also
eaten in very moderate quantities. Many people seeking a healthy diet today are eating ten times that
much soy, particularly through drinking vast amounts of soya milk and eating other non-traditional foods
such as soya-based ice-cream.”
E Susan McCaskill considers the latest negative publicity about soy to be exaggerated, but she admits
that it does raise some very relevant questions. “It still appears to me that soya beans have many
notable nutritional benefits to offer, but the key thing here is moderation. What frequently happens
now is that people go from eating much too much of one thing to eating too much of something else.”v
F Both McCaskill and Steinman concede that the recent soya controversy is just one example of how
food fashions are confusing the health-conscious today. Red meat has often been blamed for high rates
of heart disease and other health problems, then has been praised for its high iron content.
Carbohydrate rich foods such as pasta, rice and potatoes have been promoted since the seventies as
healthy staples of our diet, and then recently have received the blame for the growing numbers of
people who are seriously overweight.
G Dr Steinman echoes the words of McCaskill on one key point - moderation is the most significant
factor in any healthy diet. However, he fears that modern obsessions with perfect food habits can
simply leave people so discouraged that they give up completely. “If you rush to a new diet because
you’ve been told your old one was bad, then find the new one has its own critics, what do you do next?
I worry that many will simply stop thinking about healthy eating habits and head to the nearest fast food
outlet.”
H It is certainly undeniable that the fast food industry is booming. Whether this is because of
confused and discouraged eaters of health food is difficult to determine. What is clear, however, is that
advertisers are working harder and harder to influence the world’s eating habits, and that the needs of
both health enthusiasts and fast food customers are now coming together: the fastest growing
customer base in many major fast food chains is now people attracted by their new “healthy choices.”
The question remains: who will decide in the end precisely what a healthy choice is?
