Nutrition information is everywhere. If you look at books and magazines, surf the Internet, watch television, listen to the radio, or shop for groceries, you will encounter information about nutrition. Even family members and friends will contribute their opinions about what you should or shouldn’t be eating! A lot of the information coming from popular sources is not supported by scientific evidence. The challenge for you and other consumers is to determine how to analyze this information to determine whether it is factual and based on solid evidence (reliable) or misinformation that is unsupported by the facts.
How can you evaluate the reliability of nutrition information? Where can you obtain up-to-date, accurate information? What are common red flags that indicate the information is misleading? The article “Nutrition Misinformation: How to Identify Fraud and Misleading Claims” from Colorado State University will help you answer these questions!