A Cheesy Attack on Dietitians

This has been a rough week for registered dietitians. Our credibility and reputations have been under attack and we feel betrayed by our governing body. Last Wednesday, a “cheesy” story broke in The New York Times about Kraft Singles American being the first product to ever get a seal of approval from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This is the trade group that I belong to that represents 75,000 registered dietitians. Since then, we’ve been the laughing stock everywhere from Huffington Post to the Jon Steward show.  My professional organization that has never endorsed a product before appears to have recommended this cheese product wrapped in plastic. What?? Here is the story…

When I read The New York Times article about this cheesy association, I was very confused to say the least. Did I miss an email polling us if we wanted to endorse this product? Nope. Registered dietitians pride ourselves in being experts in the field of food and nutrition and generally recommend food as natural as possible. Did we do an about face and suddenly find Kraft Singles the darling of nutritious foods for kids. Nope. And what about the money that Kraft supposedly paid the Academy. Were we told about that? Nope. At that point shock and outrage set in. 

What’s the deal?
KidsEatRight.org is an educational resource for consumers to promote healthy eating and prevent childhood obesity. It’s a national campaign of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Foundation. Educating families and children on healthy eating –  so far, so good. But now word has it that this logo (see picture below) will  appear on Kraft Singles,  a processed cheese product that is not legally allowed to call itself cheese!  The label is approved to appear on the packaging for the regular and 2 percent milk versions of Kraft Singles. This is the first time that this seal will appear on any product. It has also been reported that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has received an undisclosed amount of money from Kraft for this seal placement. 

 The Academy claims it is not an endorsement or seal of approval. Hmmm… what would you think if you saw a seal on a product from a major health organization? 

But …. these actions of the Academy are not sitting well with many of it’s member as evidenced by the flurry of action on facebook and twitter. 

Why I am outraged
Damaging to our reputations. My reputation and that of 75,000 other RDs is on the line. The comments to some of the blog posts are downright insulting.  
“They should be ashamed of themselves. The so-called Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. They’ve sold their collective soul to the devil”
“Whatever credibility this organization had is now reduced to zero in my book. One more example of the lack of integrity of anyone connected with “Big Processed Food”.

Lack of transparency and integrity.  As registered dietitians, we pride ourselves in these areas. If I am a brand ambassador and get paid to promote a product, I will note this in my blog post or tweet. AND I would only promote a product I feel very comfortable recommending. We expect the same from our governing body, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  The Academy has accepted an undisclosed amount of money from Kraft to have the Kids Eat Right logo on the cheese product label.  Over the years, the Academy has been criticized by some of its members and health advocates on its ties to the industry. Many of our conferences are sponsored by companies like PepsiCo, Kellogg and ConAgra. Lunches from McDonalds have even been served at some conferences.

Our opinions didn’t matter. I don’t understand how a governing body can put a seal of approval on a product without asking its member for their opinions!  Most RDs don’t believe that we should be endorsing any product in this manner. I feel we are misleading the public by taking advantage of this financial arrangement to highlight a certain product. Would the Academy have done this if there was no money involved?

Dietitians Unite
So what do you do when you feel betrayed? Unite and repeal! My hat is off to three courageous and well-respected members of the Academy, Regan Jones RD, Kate Geagan MS RD and Rachel Begun MS RD for organizing a petition a petition to “Repeal the Seal”. This article by Rebecca Scritchfield RD – In Defense of 75,000 Dietitians–   explains the Change.org petition. See the petition below    … and if you are a registered dietitian, sign the petition HERE 

March 16, 2015

To Mary Beth Whalen, President Sonja Connor, leadership at the Academy and the Kids Eat Right (KER) Foundation:

As long-time members and proud supporters of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), we are dismayed, shocked, and saddened by the blog post in last week’s New York Times. The piece reports on the KER Foundation’s Nutrition seal— a seal that the Academy states was not an endorsement of the product, but is an indicator of the brands that support Kids Eat Right.

As dedicated Registered Dietitians/Nutritionists and food and nutrition experts, we are protesting the Academy’s position to allow the Kids Eat Right logo on Kraft Singles, as well as the possibility to allow any future implied endorsement of any product by AND for the following reasons:

Flawed Understanding of the Marketplace

We wholly reject the rationale that the Academy used in their formal press release to defend the nature of the relationship between Kraft and the Academy. A logo on a product label is an endorsement, an alignment, and recognition of a paid relationship. Simply stating otherwise in a press release, no matter how emphatically, doesn’t change this fact. Rather, AND’s actions illustrate how profoundly out of touch AND is with business principles, which has put our professional integrity and credibility at risk. It is also a decision that is out of touch with members’ values.

Failure to Provide Transparency to AND Members and Consumers

We work hard to provide full transparency in all of our own business relationships, and we expect the same from the Academy. Failure to be transparent about ANDs actions violates the Academy’s own Ethics Policy*, which calls for the highest standards of honesty and integrity, and for members to not engage in false or misleading practices of communications.

Actions Requested of the Academy: #RepealTheSeal

We ask that the Academy make available to its members, the media and the public the following:

We ask for full transparency regarding the process of approval to allow the KER logo on the Kraft product— including the names of those involved, the meeting minutes of the discussion, and Board’s vote on this issue.

We ask for full disclosure of the terms of the financial agreement between KER Foundation and Kraft. We also request full transparency regarding the status of future agreements under consideration for use of our Logo.

We ask the Academy to provide their plan for the discontinuation of this specific relationship with Kraft and removal of the KER logo off Kraft Singles product packaging.

Academy members deserve strong leaders who will protect the integrity of the Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist credential. This latest action is an embarrassing misstep that must be corrected swiftly in order to prevent further damage to the RD/RDN brand and to the Academy.

Sincerely,

Rachel Begun MS, RDN
Kate Geagan MS, RDN
Regan Jones, RDN
Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist colleagues who have signed their names here

*American Dietetic Association/Commission on Dietetic Registration Code of Ethics for the Profession of Dietetics and Process for the Consideration of Ethics Issues. J Acad Nutr Diet 2009;109(8):1461-1467.

FOR MORE INFO:

Great post by Dr. David Katz   *must read!
Fooducate: Kraft Singles – Fake Food, Faulty Endorsement
On twitter, follow #RepealTheSeal