Food fads

Since earliest recorded history, magic qualities have been attributed to certain foods and an aura of mystery has surrounded many of them. As knowledge of nutrition has increased, people generally have become more aware of the importance of food, but they are still susceptible to folklore and faddism in food choices. Most people as they grow older have deep desires to maintain perpetual youth and health. Few have any knowledge concerning the relationships between food and health, and many lack confidence in the medical community's assistance in maintaining their health. Thus, they fall prey to the promises and false premises of the sellers of pseudo-nutrition and food nonsense.

Nutritional quackery is the biggest fraud in the health field. Conservative estimates indicate that US$ 500 million to $2,000 million are spent annually in the USA alone on non-prescribed and unnecessary food supplements and vitamin and mineral products. In recent years new fads in foods have included 'health foods', 'organic foods' and 'natural foods'. In almost any city in the USA, foods described by this terminology are available for sale, usually at several times the cost of regular foods. At least 26 common herbal teas contain toxic ingredients. These teas have already caused a wide range of diseases of the digestive system, blood, the heart, the nervous system and skin. In America at least four people have died from herbal tea poisoning.