I can still recall hearing some tall tales about food when I was a child. Carrots would give me eagle-eye vision, and spinach would supply me with Popeye-like biceps. While those claims were certainly dubious, they at least had the noble motivation of encouraging kids to eat their veggies.

These days, things are different. Suspect health claims are everywhere, and they’re attached not to spinach, but to processed foods with little to no nutritional value. They come from advertisers promoting a brand, not good health. There’s even a term for it—“healthwashing.”

If you’re not familiar with the word, you’re almost certainly familiar with the practice. Walk down the aisles of any grocery store and you’re bombarded with products proclaiming themselves “natural,” “gluten-free,” “multigrain,” “made with real fruit,” or a “good source of Nutrient X”—to name a few examples. All the boasting would seem to imply that these industry-created foods—typically high in sugar, sodium, and all manner of artificial additives—are somehow good for you.

That’s the point, of course. Healthwashing seeks to take advantage of our busy lives: Who has time to read the fine print on every ingredient label? We do have time to see—in big, bold letters—that a cereal has “whole grains.” Advertisers are banking on that being enough.

Apparently, many of us are buying it. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2022 found that on average, U.S. adults get nearly 60 percent of their daily calories from “ultraprocessed” foods—all those ready-to-eat (or heat) convenience foods that are loaded with additives and short on nutrients. Healthwashing is not, of course, the sole reason for that sobering finding. But it’s certainly a contributor—or companies wouldn’t do it.

Deceptive health claims have a long history in our society, and not only in relation to food. There was a time when Camels were advertised as doctors’ cigarette of choice, after all. However, it does seem like it’s gotten worse over the years. Dietary supplements, and all their hyperbolic claims, were one wave: By some estimates, there are now over 90,000 different supplements on the market.

When it comes to food, the public’s growing desire for “healthy” snacks may be one reason why so many companies are scrambling to give their products the appearance of dietary virtue. Terms like “made with [insert healthy-sounding ingredient]” may be technically true, but they’re still deceptive.

Sometimes it’s relatively easy to spot the deception: “Multigrain” chips are still just chips, with all the sodium and empty calories each serving contains (and none of those “grains” may even be “whole-grain,” and thus they may offer little to no fiber or other nutrients). Other times, admittedly, it’s not as black-and-white. One example is Cheerios, whose packaging has long touted the cereal’s potential to “lower cholesterol as part of a heart-healthy diet.” That’s based on the fact that it contains soluble fiber—which, yes, may help lower cholesterol.

But Honey Nut Cheerios also prominently carries this banner on the front of every box. A serving of Honey Nut Cheerios will provide a little soluble fiber, too—but it comes with 12 grams of added sugar (about 3 teaspoons), or one-quarter of the recommended daily value. (Original Cheerios has only 1 gram of added sugar, so it’s clearly the better choice of the two.)

None of this is to say that you can’t enjoy your favorite cereal, or sometimes indulge in chips (multigrain or otherwise). But it’s important to take all product claims with a grain of salt, and instead read ingredient lists and nutrition information panels. That’s where the truth comes out.

Ultimately, though, the best course is to primarily eat real food, rather than processed products “made with real…” If we’re truly serious about healthy eating, we should ideally reach for fruits and vegetables and other whole foods that have no fancy packaging and catchphrases.

Those old stories about carrots and spinach may not have been 100 percent factual—but they did have our best interests at heart.