Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

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THE FOOD INDUSTRY ADAPTS
It is useless to tell a river to stop running; the best
thing is to learn how to swim in the direction it is
fl owing.
—Anonymous
Oversimplifi cation has been the characteristic
weakness of scientists of every generation.
—Elmer McCollum, author of
A History of Nutrition , 1957
People have always been interested in getting and staying
healthy. Health gurus throughout history have been responsive
to this interest and have employed, interpreted, and promoted
science to uncover products and practices that will advance
healthy living. Giacomo Castelyetro in 1614 unsuccessfully tried
to get the English to eat more fruits and vegetables. In the late
nineteenth century John Harvey Kellogg, a vegetarian, a surgeon,
and the father of the modern breakfast cereal, advocated
a diet high in vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts, and legumes, plus
plenty of water and thorough chewing of food. There have been
many more before and after these early nutritionists.
Scientists from a variety of disciplines have developed theories,
and conducted experiments on those theories. Some consensus
findings have emerged, but the overwhelming conclusion is
that the body, the food that goes into it, and the lifestyle that surrounds
it represent a highly complex system. As a result the science
is often ambiguous or embryonic, and judgments are made
that assume that findings are more definitive than they are.
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