The era of corporate nutritionism? A review essay

Despite the abundance of social science studies examining the growing problem of obesity in many countries (Bossy, 2010; Gard and Wright, 2005; Guthman, 2011; Saguy, 2013), few of them concern food companies, which have, nevertheless, been strongly implicated in the public space. The recent publication of Gyorgy Scrinis’ book Nutritionism. The Science and Politics of Dietary Advice, and the re-publication of Marion Nestle’s Food Politics. How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, invite us to question the role of these firms in shaping eating habits and how to study this. Both books insist upon the fact that the marketing and lobbying practices of food industry firms strongly influence our relationship with food. They draw on many empirical elements to substantiate this argument. However, the demonstration of the authors is weakened by certain methodological flaws, which we shall examine after presenting both book