Viewpoint: There’s no such thing as a ‘toxic’ chemical (it’s all based on dose and exposure)—and 4 other common food marketing myths busted

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[H]ere are five common “healthy halo” buzzwords to look out for.

1) Clean

Everything from “clean ingredients” to “clean food” to describing your diet as “clean eating” and even going as far as to describe your entire lifestyle as “clean living” are plastered all over some of the most popular social media influencers pages. So, what does it mean? Great question! It can mean whatever you want it to mean. It has absolutely no scientific or practical meaning.

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5) No toxic chemicals

…There is no such thing as a “toxic chemical,” there are only toxic doses. The phrase “the dose makes the poison” applies to all chemicals, both natural and synthetic. Every chemical, even water, can be toxic at a given dose.

No food — organic or otherwise — contains a “toxic” level of pesticides, and organic farming uses pesticides of which have overlapping toxicities to those of synthetic pesticides. The organic industry has done an excellent job of misinforming consumers about conventional foods and positioning organic as safer and healthier even though this is not the case.

Unfortunately, consumers will continue to be misinformed and misled by marketing campaigns and trendy buzzwords. The best thing to do is to just skip over the marketing labels and look at the factual information located on the back of the food package.

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