Thread by @washingtonpost

The food, beverage and dietary supplement industries are paying dozens of registered dietitians that collectively have millions of social media followers to help sell products and deliver industry-friendly messages on Instagram and TikTok, according to an analysis by The Washington Post and The Examination (@examinationnews).

As the World Health Organization raised questions this summer about the risks of a popular artificial sweetener, a new hashtag began spreading on the social media accounts of health professionals: #safetyofaspartame.

wapo.st/3LiGUCP

Steph Grasso used the hashtag and told her 2.2 million followers on TikTok that the WHO warnings about artificial sweeteners were “clickbait” based on “low-quality science.”

Cara Harbstreet reassured her Instagram followers not to worry about “fear mongering headlines” about aspartame.

What these dietitians didn’t make clear was that they were paid to post the videos by American Beverage, a trade and lobbying group representing Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and other companies.

Another dietitian with a large following, Jenn Messina, posted a video on Instagram where she added a lollipop to a dinner plate. She told parents the strategy will “prevent sweets obsession” and help kids develop healthier relationships with food. wapo.st/3LiGUCP

In another video, Messina told parents they can make Halloween less stressful by allowing kids to eat as much candy as they want when they’re done trick-or-treating.

She was paid by the Canadian Sugar Institute, which she disclosed on her posts and in an interview. Messina said that, while her advice is “nontraditional,” her goal is to help parents, and declined to say how much the sugar institute pays her for sponsored videos.

Our analysis of thousands of posts found that companies and industry groups paid dietitians for content that encouraged viewers to eat candy and ice cream, downplayed the health risks of highly processed foods and pushed unproven supplements — messages that run counter to decades of scientific evidence about healthy eating.

The review found that among 68 dietitians with 10,000 or more social media followers on TikTok or Instagram, about half had promoted food, beverages or supplements to their combined 11 million followers within the last year.

wapo.st/3LiGUCP

While the dietitian influencers contacted for this article wouldn’t say how much they are paid for sponsored posts, several said that companies generally pay a few thousand dollars a video and that offers could be as high as tens of thousands of dollars. wapo.st/3LiGUCP

We’re continuing to report on nutrition influencers on social media, and we need your help.

Fill out this form if you have insights you wish to share with a reporter.

You can also reach out to the @examinationnews on Signal at [phone] .

theexamination.org/articles/help-…