In the news: Consumers gobbling up junk food disguised as 'nutraceuticals' or 'functional food'

    Many foods now come with "extras" such as added
    vitamins and fiber, leading people to over-rely on them
     for their nutritional needs.                                    AP photo

Americans hooked on sugar- and additive-laden junk foods are fooling themselves that they are making healthier choices, and food marketers are laughing all the way to the bank, says a recent story posted by the Associated Press.

By adding teensy amounts of nutrients, from calcium to fiber to folic acid to Omega-3 fatty acids, to foods such as sugary cereals, snack bars, and even milk and yogurt, food manufacturers are raking in $27 billion in sales a year, or about 5 percent of the U.S. food market, according to a report from research firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Says the Pricewaterhouse report: "Consumers increasingly want to achieve health and nutritional benefits with convenience, and without the need to  change behaviors or affinities to foods they regularly enjoy. New technologies are enabling the addition of nutrients to food without altering the way consumers 'experience' them."  Estimates of future growth range from 8.5 to 20 percent per year, compared to 1-4 percent forecast for the food industry as a whole.

And companies are indeed jumping on this healthy bandwagon, making dubious claims about health benefits from eating their products, and labeling anything they can with vague or misleading words such as "whole grain," "natural," and even "organic." 

The AP story quotes nutrition expert Alice Lichtenstein, who notes that with functional foods, "we end up eating it like it is medicine, so we end up eating too much of it."

The dangers of such self-delusion are obvious: Eating too many nutritionally empty calories, thus gaining weight but remaining basically unhealthy! 

Bottom line: Avoid processed foods, no matter how tempting they are or what kinds of crazy claims you read on the label.  An occasional meal replacement using an "energy"  breakfast bar, say, or choosing calcium-fortified orange juice, is okay, as long as your basic diet consists mainly of fresh, nutrition-packed  foods and healthily prepared recipes.