The headlines about a study from the University of Michigan stink worse than a block of ripe Limburger and have more holes than a wheel of Swiss.
The headlines are based on a University of Michigan study of a compound found in dairy products called nisin. But the U of M news release about the study makes it clear that there are at least two critical qualifiers:
The release notes: “Nisin, a colorless, tasteless powder, is typically added to food at the rate of .25 to 37.5 mg/kg. Many foods contain nisin, but nowhere near the 800 mg/kg needed to kill cancer cells.”
While it might generate more clicks, claiming that “cheese fights cancer” is a ridiculous and misleading leap from what was actually reported in the study.
These are the kinds of headlines that make readers roll their eyes at nutrition research and which erode the public trust in science. We should all stop writing them.
Hat tip to Colby Vorland, who tweets as @nutsci on Twitter, for initially flagging this study and related news coverage.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Questions to ask about new Alzheimer’s drug research by @KatKStone incl:
-does study focus on patient outcomes or surrogate markers?
-does study rely on selective subgroups? (yield more favourable outcomes)
-who were the patients? https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2017/08/6-questions-to-ask-when-writing-and-reading-about-new-alzheimers-research/#.YRw5xNVXths.twitter @HealthNewsRevu
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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