In recent years, food-related disinformation on social media has become a growing public health concern. To address this escalating issue, the Freedom Food Alliance has announced a new partnership with the Rooted Research Collective to publish a report to combat the disinformation about nutrition circulating on social media platforms today.
The rise of food disinformation
A recent survey conducted by MyFitnessPal – a health and lifestyle tracking app – involving 2,000 participants found that a staggering 87% of Millennials and Gen Z users on TikTok have sought dietary and health advice directly from the platform. Of these, 57% report that they have been influenced by or often adopt dietary trends found online. This situation is worrying, as much of this advice lacks scientific backing.
According to MyFitnessPal data, TikTok’s most popular diet trends include detox regimens, foods that promise to burn abdominal fat and liquid-only fasts. Although widely circulated, these trends lack scientific support and can, in many cases, be harmful. It is thus unsurprising that 31% of users who followed these trends reported adverse health effects.
Aims of the report
The forthcoming report aims to analyse the phenomenon of food-related disinformation and its consequences thoroughly. The document will focus on identifying sources of disinformation, assessing the motivations behind its spread, and evaluating its impact on public health. Additionally, the report will propose science-based awareness campaigns to educate consumers and promote accurate nutritional information.
In a supplementary study conducted by MyFitnessPal in collaboration with Dublin City University, artificial intelligence was used to analyse over 67,000 videos on TikTok, comparing them with healthy eating guidelines. The preliminary results are alarming: only 2.1% of the analysed content was accurate and aligned with these guidelines, while the rest were partially correct, incorrect, or inconclusive due to a lack of scientific support.
Health consequences
The spread of inaccurate nutrition information on social media is not a problem to be taken lightly. Extreme diets, such as some of the trends promoted on TikTok, can lead to severe health consequences, including eating disorders, nutritional deficiencies, and other medical complications. One example is the carnivore diet, which permits only animal-based foods, particularly meat and fish, while excluding dairy, yoghurt, oils, and all plant-based foods. This type of diet, touted by American orthopaedic surgeon Shawn Baker for promoting significant weight loss, lacks any scientific foundation. However, it is evident that no health benefits can arise from such an unbalanced diet, which main food is classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization: red meat.
The need for regulation
Despite disinformation being identified by the World Economic Forum as one of humanity’s greatest risks in the near future, there is currently no effective regulation regarding nutrition information shared on social media. The Freedom Food Alliance report will propose policy and regulatory recommendations to address this gap, calling for greater accountability from social platforms and promoting a safer, more informed digital environment.
One positive finding from the data is that Generation Z tends to trust nutrition information shared by registered and qualified dietitians and nutritionists more than by unqualified influencers. This insight underscores the importance of promoting scientifically sound content on social media and fostering greater digital awareness and responsibility to protect consumers from the pitfalls of online nutrition disinformation.
