The food industry pays ‘influencer’ dietitians to shape your eating habits

Registered dietitians are being paid to post videos that promote diet soda, sugar and supplements on Instagram and TikTok

September 13, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
The Washington Post and The Examination found that the food industry pays dozens of “influencer” dietitians to promote its products on TikTok and Instagram. (Video: Alexa Juliana Ard, Neeti Upadhye, Brian Monroe/The Washington Post/The Examination)
19 min

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.

Steph Grasso, a registered dietitian from Oakton, Va., 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.”

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