McCormick seasoning says adding spices to your food isn't just tasty, it has proven health benefits, notes this story in The Sun's business section by our colleague Andrea Walker.
Through its Science Institute, started in 2007, the company promotes and studies how spices can affect health.
The research found that marinating meat helps kill cancer-causing compounds, that ginger eases pain in muscles after exercise and that eating a spiced burger helps eliminate harmful oxidants in the blood.
Of course, the company's motives aren't purely scientific. McCormick hopes to profit from the claims. And it's not the only company to do so, the story explains.
Not everyone thinks that's a good idea.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest thinks consumers should be cautious about health claims made by food companies that pay for research. Better to trust the National Institutes of Health instead, it says.
Bruce Silverglade, legal director for the center, said he'd be concerned if McCormick "takes the route of other companies and makes claims that an ordinary spice is akin to a magic ingredient that can cure disease," though he said he hasn't seen any evidence of that.
Many spices have health benefits -- that isn't necessarily new. But should a company look to profit from those claims? Would you trust its research?
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