Food

For people without celiac disease or a diagnosed gluten sensitivity, research finds no general health benefit to eliminating gluten, and unnecessarily restrictive gluten-free diets can reduce intake of beneficial whole grain fiber and certain nutrients while typically costing significantly more than standard foods.

In 2023, IARC classified aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2B) based on limited evidence, while WHO's JECFA committee simultaneously reaffirmed the existing acceptable daily intake, concluding no need for consumers to change consumption at typical levels.

Bottled water is not inherently purer or safer than tap water. In the United States, bottled water is regulated by the FDA while tap water is regulated by the EPA under generally more stringent testing and public reporting requirements, and multiple studies have found contaminants, including microplastics and, in some tested cases, bacteria, in bottled water products.

Brown sugar and white sugar are nutritionally almost identical, since brown sugar is simply white sugar with a small amount of molasses added back. The trace minerals it contains are far too small in quantity to provide any meaningful health benefit, and both sugars affect blood glucose in the same way.

Carrots support general eye health because of their vitamin A content, but eating them does not give people enhanced night vision beyond correcting an existing deficiency. The popularized version of this claim traces partly to British World War II propaganda that exaggerated pilots' carrot consumption to obscure radar technology.

The claim that celery and similar low-calorie vegetables burn more calories to digest than they contain, resulting in a net negative caloric effect, is not supported by metabolic research, though celery is genuinely very low in calories and can be a reasonable part of a weight management diet for other reasons.

No scientific evidence supports the claim that coffee or caffeine stunts height growth in children or adolescents. The myth likely originated from early, overstated concerns about caffeine reducing calcium absorption, an effect that later research found to be minor and easily offset by normal dietary calcium intake.

E-numbers are simply the standardized European coding system for approved food additives, and the coding itself carries no information about safety; each additive has undergone individual safety evaluation, and the presence of an E-number does not indicate a substance is toxic.

Eating dietary fat does not directly and uniquely cause body fat gain; weight gain is driven by total calorie intake exceeding total calorie expenditure, regardless of whether those excess calories come from fat, carbohydrates, or protein. Dietary fat is more calorie-dense per gram than carbohydrate or protein, which is a real, relevant factor, but this is a different claim from fat itself having a special fat-storing mechanism.

Gelatin and collagen supplements are frequently marketed as boosting hair and nail growth, but clinical evidence supporting this specific claim is limited and largely comes from small, often industry-funded studies. Hair and nails are made primarily of keratin, a different protein than the collagen found in gelatin, and general protein adequacy, not gelatin specifically, is what nutrition science most reliably links to healthy hair and nail growth.

The relationship between dietary cholesterol from eggs and cardiovascular risk has been substantially revised in the past decade. Saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol itself, is now understood to be the primary dietary driver of LDL cholesterol, and most healthy adults can eat one to two eggs daily as part of a balanced diet, though individual responses vary.

Most date labels on food packaging, including 'best by' and 'sell by' dates, indicate peak quality, not a firm safety cutoff, and are not federally standardized or required in the United States except for infant formula. Food can often remain safe to eat well past these dates, though this varies by food type and storage conditions, and does not apply universally.

Frozen produce is nutritionally equivalent to, and in some cases superior to, fresh produce purchased from a supermarket, because it is typically frozen at peak ripeness within hours of harvest. Fresh produce, by contrast, often loses nutrients during the days or weeks it spends in transport, storage, and on store shelves.

Major scientific and regulatory bodies worldwide, including WHO, EFSA, and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, have concluded that currently approved genetically modified foods are as safe to eat as their conventional counterparts. More than 3,000 studies support this conclusion.

Every approved GMO crop undergoes rigorous allergenicity testing before entering the food supply. No novel allergies attributable to approved GMO foods have been documented. The rise in food allergy prevalence preceded GMO commercialization and occurs in countries with minimal GMO exposure.

Grass-fed beef has a somewhat different, generally modestly more favorable fatty acid and antioxidant profile than grain-fed beef, but the differences are relatively small in absolute nutritional terms, and no strong clinical evidence shows grass-fed beef produces dramatically better health outcomes for consumers compared with conventional grain-fed beef.

Pure honey has genuinely exceptional shelf stability due to its low moisture content, high acidity, and natural hydrogen peroxide production, and well sealed honey thousands of years old has been found still edible in archaeological contexts. However, honey can still crystallize, absorb moisture, ferment, or spoil if improperly stored or contaminated, so 'never' is an overstatement of an otherwise well supported claim.

Transportation typically accounts for only a small share, often under 10 percent, of the total greenhouse gas footprint of food, while what type of food is eaten, particularly meat versus plant-based options, and how it is produced generally matter far more than how far it traveled.

Low-fat diets are not universally healthier than diets with moderate or higher fat content. Large clinical trials, including the Women's Health Initiative, found low-fat diets did not significantly reduce heart disease, cancer, or overall mortality compared with usual diets, and the type of fat consumed, not just total fat quantity, is now understood as more important for health outcomes.

Nutrient loss during cooking is driven mainly by heat exposure time, temperature, and the amount of water used, and because microwaving typically cooks food faster and with less added water than boiling or other conventional methods, comparative studies frequently find microwaving preserves nutrients, particularly water-soluble vitamins, at least as well as, and sometimes better than, other common cooking methods.

Microwave ovens use non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation that heats food by causing water molecules to vibrate, and this energy does not remain in the food or make it radioactive after cooking, a point confirmed by health agencies including the US FDA and the World Health Organization.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is recognized as safe by the FDA, EFSA, and WHO's JECFA committee at typical dietary levels. "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" originated from a single unverified 1968 letter and has not been substantiated in controlled clinical trials.

Organic food generally contains lower pesticide residue levels, but large systematic reviews find no consistent evidence that organic food is more nutritious than conventionally grown food or produces better measured health outcomes.

IARC classifies processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen ("carcinogenic to humans") and red meat as Group 2A ("probably carcinogenic"), based on consistent epidemiological associations with colorectal cancer, though the classification reflects strength of evidence, not overall magnitude of individual risk.

Sea salt and table salt have virtually the same sodium content by weight, roughly 40 percent, and affect blood pressure and cardiovascular health identically. Sea salt does carry trace minerals from evaporated seawater, but the quantities involved are nutritionally insignificant.

Spinach does contain meaningful iron, but it is not exceptionally high compared with many other common foods, and a persistent legend attributes today's spinach reputation to a decimal-point error that historians of the claim have found little solid documentary evidence for. Spinach's iron is also less absorbable than iron from meat sources due to compounds that inhibit uptake.

'Superfood' is a marketing term, not a scientific or regulatory classification. Many foods labeled as superfoods do contain beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, but no single food provides dramatic, disease-curing health benefits on its own, and the term is not defined or regulated by food safety or nutrition authorities.

Turkey contains the amino acid tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, but a typical serving does not provide nearly enough tryptophan to cause measurable drowsiness. Post-holiday-meal fatigue is much better explained by large portion sizes, high carbohydrate intake, and alcohol consumption than by the turkey itself.