Yesterday I was looking over the 2010 Dietitians of Canada conference program taking place this weekend. I’m not a dietitian, nor am I planning on attending the conference. However, I respect the work of many dietitians and I like to see if there are any interesting presentations being given that I may need to track down once the conference is over.
While I did spot a couple of talks I think have potential (The Role of Microbiota in Medical Nutrition Therapy and The Alkaline Diet: Acid, Nutrient Excretion, Urine pH and Disease were two of the more interesting titles), most of the topics seemed rather mundane. However, I did encounter a few things that really got me worked up… and not in a good way. The list of organizations financially backing this conference was both shocking and appalling.
Dietitians of Canada is supposed to be the organization entrusted with providing us the best nutrition information available. Although in a perfect world, you’d love to see a completely unbiased organization offering health advice, I’m not so naïve as to expect that to ever happen. However, couldn’t our national health organizations at least pretend they weren’t getting massive amounts of industry money to make the claims they do? Just look at some of the organizations sponsoring several of the events and talks:
- Nesté Canada “Raising Awareness of Malnutrition in Canada”
- Sun-Rype products sponsoring a luncheon
- Kellogs “The Causal Web of Childhood Obesity and the Increasing Importance of Physical Activity in Public Health”
- Canada Sugar Institute sponsoring a different luncheon
- Pepsico Canada sponsoring a morning snack break
- McCain Canada “Marketting of Foods and Beverages to Children”
The sheer irony of these associations boggles the mind. I mean having Nesté sponsor a session on malnutrition awareness is akin to Imperial Tobacco putting up funds to warn people about the dangers of second hand smoke.
And who could forget Roberto Alomar in the mid 90′s telling Canadian children everywhere to “Catch the taste of McCain punch”? I suppose catching the taste is code talk for sucking back 7 tsp of sugar in each glass. Thanks Robbie for that great advice.
Part of a nutritious breakfast??
Oh and by the way Kellogs, I’m sure your Frosted Flakes, Fruits Loops and Pop Tarts have nothing to do with the spread of childhood obesity…
Admittedly, not all the event sponsors were bad ones and I am fully aware of the massive costs involved with running a conference of this nature, but we’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Accepting large sums of money from food manufacturers that are making preominantly nutrient devoid foods does not reflect well upon your organization.
Dietitians of Canada, if you want people to start taking your advice seriously, you’ve got to start basing your recommendations on what the science suggests, not based on who donates the biggest cheque to fund your events.
Well that’s my rant for the week. Until next time, train hard and eat clean!
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