Growers and Grocers

We all know that French women don’t get fat because they walk everywhere and eat a lot of leek soup. So why are major food groups rushing to market “light” products to them?

A recent book, reviewed in Saturday’s issue of Libération, analyzes the wave of light, enriched, healthy and other “scientifically proven” products that are invading French supermarkets. Journalist Fabiola Flex’s new book, “N’avalons pas n’importe quoi” (roughly: Don’t Swallow It), reveals that many “light” products sold in France contain more fat than their normal counterparts and takes multinational agri-food companies to task for their shameless marketing of “enriched” and “healthy” foods.

I have observed the increase of these products in French supermarkets. Fifteen years ago, the only “light” items on the shelves were dairy products, which usually are lower in fat than regular versions. Now I see “light” soups, chocolate, and snack crackers, all sold for a pretty centime, plus a slew of vitamin-enriched or “healthy” products such as Danone’s Actimel. According to Flex’s book, only a flimsy study “proves” Actimel’s claim to “strengthen your natural defenses.”

Another defender of French food values, Jean-Pierre Coffe, recently covered the issue of “light” foods on his France Inter radio show and came to the same conclusions. Not a single food industry representative accepted his invitation to participate in the broadcast.