Health food or just hype

Vasumita S

They come with serious messages and tantalise us with attractive packaging, telling us how the families in advertisements lead a happy life. They use every means possible to convince the viewer that their product is the best thing we can ever buy. And the latest bandwagon that advertisers are riding on to get their products across to the consumer is health.

Almost every skin or food-related advertisement on TV tells you that their product has ‘fortified vitamins' or ‘fructose nutrients' or ‘iron power' - all guaranteed to increase your brain power or give you a glowing skin. And if the average shoppers' list is anything to go by, then consumers are falling for the ‘healthy lifestyle', helped by their own fast-paced life. But how many claims made by the companies through their ads can be believed and how much is hype generated to cash in on the health trend?

Skin care

The Fair Factor

The world may be becoming more and more global. But when it comes to skin, India still clings on to its age-old demand for fairness.

The marriage market and matrimonial ads are proof of this. And girls have to be ‘fair and beautiful' first, irrespective of their other qualifications. Men too face an increasing pressure in the Indian marriage mart to be tall, fair and handsome.

From Fair and Lovely's unabashed ads associating dark skin with failures in romance and professional life, and reinforcing stereotypes, to international skincare brands such as L‘Oreal and Garnier foraying into India with their range of whitening lotions - skin care is fast becoming a multimillion dollar industry in India.

A simple research on the Internet has thrown up a data that the skincare industry is growing at a 15 per cent rate. It isn't just fairness creams that have caught the fancy.

As the western concept of looking young catches on, you have anti-aging creams, anti-marks creams, wrinkle-reducing creams, and creams that are supposed to give back your ‘youth' - all costing a few hundreds at least. As the natural and organic skin care became popular, these brands have rapidly added the natural tag to their banquet too.

While research and testing on human skin go into these products, those who conduct the research on the products and people who sell them are entirely different people, says Dr Krupa Shankar, professor and head of department, dermatology at the Manipal Hospital. He adds that products by well-known brands are reasonably safe, but discretion has to be used while using them.

"What may not be highlighted is that all cosmetic products carry a two per cent side effects on the skin," says Dr Krupa Shankar, "So the logic goes that if someone swayed by advertisements is using five different creams, then the side-effects are going to be ten per cent and the returns too will diminish."

Consumers should keep in mind that a good diet and personal hygiene will also give them the desired results, and lesser such creams are used, the better it is, he says.

Dr Elizabeth Jayaseelan, professor and HOD of Dermatology at St John's Hospital says that consumers need to differentiate between hype and reality.

‘‘How effective a cream or lotion is depends on how it works for an individual, so do allergic reactions. Using a cream for long durations without knowing its ingredients can be harmful. So caution in this regard must be exercised.''

Food products Selling Health

Consumers today are increasingly becoming aware of the potential health troubles they could be heading for owing to their lifestyle, and mothers seem to be especially laden with guilt on what they are feeding their children. Waiting to cash in on the trend and reassure mothers are advertisements on TV, selling everything from noodles to wheat to oil with the health tag.

‘Taste bhi health bhi' is the mantra of Nestle group, which has refocused its noodles segment as a healthy product from a two-minute snack, and introduced varieties such as Maggi Aata Noodles and Maggi Dal Noodles. Similarly, healthy soups are being promoted by brands such as Maggi and Knorr. ITC has come out with multi-grain biscuits. There is Brook Bond natural care tea enhanced with addition of healthy herbal flavours. Kellogs cereals claim to give one that ‘Iron Shakthi'.

A closer look, however, at many of these so-called health packs can be a revelation in itself. A blogger comments in her blog that an aata vegetable noodles pack has its ingredients listed behind in order of their quantity, and while aata is the first ingredient, white flour or maida is the next ingredient.

The ‘vegetables' are dehydrated vegetables and the noodles contain added natural colours. Ditto for soups, which contain some healthy ingredients, but along with flavour enhancers, sugar and starch.

"When companies advertise their products, the usual scenario is that the one healthy ingredient is highlighted while many negatives are hidden," says Dr Paramesh, Medical Director at the Bangalore Diabetics Centre. "While vegetable soups or noodles may be better than the artificial coloured or synthetic soups, there is no comparison for wholesome soups made at home," he adds.

Again, when it comes to multi-grain biscuits, Dr Paramesh says that they are possibly more healthy than cream biscuits or sugar biscuits, but certainly not healthy for an everyday snack. ‘‘These advertisements take advantage of the guilt feeling of parents who have no time to give their children wholesome meals. Parents tend to believe such advertisements, and think that by feeding these products to their children, they are keeping them healthy.'' The same is the case with breakfast products such as cornflakes, or as advertised these days, multi-grained cereals that are targeted at children. "Even if we presume that this is nutritious, it cannot be as nutritious as the regular breakfast, which is a different item everyday, while the nutrients in a cereal will not change," says Dr Swaroopa Srinivasan, chief nutritionist, Sagar Apollo Hospital. And yet again, a look at the ingredients behind a cereal pack will show that the cereal has sugar and the nutrients claimed in it will be based on eating it with milk.

It isn't just these direct eatables that entice the consumer with the healthy lifestyle message. There are advertisements on edible oil brands such as Saffola, Sundrop and Fortune - all claiming to be good for the heart. Besides, there are wheat flour brands claiming to give one strength and several salt brands that claim to have more iron content than others. It is again a case of advertisements misleading consumers into wrong beliefs, says Dr Swaroopa.

‘‘Most of these advertisements show that a particular oil is healthy for the heart and can be used in any quantity to make any number of oily dishes. This is misleading because using oil in huge quantities everyday is not good for one's health, no matter what the brand may claim."

The interesting aspect is how many times advertisements are used to promote products that are supposedly healthier than what is traditionally used. A case in point is milk.

Milk packed in cartons (pasturised milk) is supposed to be better than milk on offer in packets. "Maybe while travelling milk cartons come in handy. However, boiled milk is healthy and is ideal for daily consumption," says Dr Swaroopa.

"We have had teenagers who have come in weighing 80-90 kilos and many times regular and high consumption of junk food and ready-to-eat food is the reason behind this," says Dr Paramesh. ‘ ‘Local food items in any place have developed with a reason, and are best suited for consumption as they are natural, fresher and will have all essential nutrients. Readymade foods replacing this culture will only do harm to consumers, especially children.'' On tackling the issue of misleading advertisements he says, "Educational programmes making consumers aware on what to believe and what not to believe will also be useful.'' Murali Raj, a psychiatrist at Manipal Hospital says that over a long term, misleading advertisements have a detrimental effect especially on the younger generation.

"There are brands that sell their products by creating panic among consumers about their health or skin.

And there are brands that influence consumers into buying products believing them to be healthy or natural. There must be one apolitical body to check the claim of these brands, as this is lacking in India," he says.

For now, it looks like we are going to be stuck with advertisements screaming tall claims about their not-so-tall products.

And the responsibility lies with us as consumers to read the fine print before deciding whether to move towards a healthy life or simply buy one from the nearest super ¦ market.

‘Healthy' Food Brands Biscuits

Sunfeast, Britania, Parle, Good Day

Soups Maggi, Knorr

Aaata Aashirwaad, Pillsbury, Annapoorna

Cereals Kellog's, Quaker Oats

Noodles Maggi

Fruit Juice Tropicana, Real, Kissan, Mazza, Minute Maid

Health Drinks Horlicks, Complan, Bournvita, Boost

Tea Brook Bond, Tata, Tetley OIL Saffola, Fortune, Sundrop

Dairy Products Nestle, Amul.

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