Chiara Manzi and Il Salvagente, the banality of fake news on Enervit

Il Salvagente, historic Italian consumer magazine, slips into misinformation with an ‘unusual’ attack on the Enervit group,  leader Italian in sports foods as well as related to wellness. (1)

The video ‘service’ – full of gross errors and  fake news – is produced by the nutritionist Chiara Manzi who, coincidentally, is a partner of a ‘competing’ company. (2)

Market analysis?

Consumer magazines and our own GIFT site usually offer market analyses where shelf products of different brands are examined,  brand industrial and private labels, within a category or subcategory of products.

The ‘analysis’ under examination is instead exclusively focused on various lines and brands of the Enervit group alone, without even mentioning any from other industries or  retailer.

Caused alarm and superficiality

Protein bars and other Enervit products – according to the self-proclaimed ‘anti aging’ nutritionist – ‘can really be harmful’. Un allarme del tutto ingiustificato – potenzialmente in grado di provocare distorsioni su un segmento di mercato ove la concorrenza è molto vivace – che Chiara Manzi prova a giustificare in una lettura superficiale delle etichette, tra errori grossolani e fake news.

The director responsible of Il Salvagente Riccardo Quintili aggravates the situation, in the article signed by him that accompanies the video, with apodictic information:

– ‘between bars, meal replacements, and various drinks we very often discovered ultra-processed foods’. The discovery of hot water, as this is a common characteristic of all products in the mentioned categories. However, Quintili fails to distinguish the nutritional profiles of these products – some of which fell into the category of sports foods, later deregulated, others still subject to specific prescriptions (3,4) – compared to junk food (HFSS, High in Fats, Sugar and Sodium),

– the products ‘discovered’ by Salvagente would also be distinguished, according to Riccardo Quintili, by ‘very high in sugars, salt and fats’, as well as for ‘low-quality ingredients, very cheap that need preservatives, colorings, flavor enhancers and various additives’. Which products, which ‘very high in salt’, which ‘low quality’, which ‘colorings’? And on what basis, pray tell?

fake news

The video by ‘Il Salvagente’ ventures into a series of gross errors and  fake news. With the clear aim of discrediting the brands of the Enervit group, generating fear among consumers about the safety – including nutritional safety – of the related products.

Food ‘not controlled’ in pharmacies?

‘Il Salvagente’ introduces the video with a shot, the window of a pharmacy, focusing on the Enervit poster. And Chiara Manzi immediately states that ‘the food we buy in pharmacies is a growing business but unfortunately just entering a pharmacy is not enough to be sure that what we buy is controlled’.

The nutritionist – owner of a company that claims to be ‘Leader in Healthy Food’ (5) – thus fails to inform her large audience (‘a community of 8,000 customers and 200,000 loyal followers’) about the fact that:

– all producers of foods fortified with vitamins, minerals and certain other substances, in Italy, must be previously authorized by the Ministry of Health, DGISAN, following an inspection visit and favorable opinion from local health authorities, (6)

– regulated products (foods for specific groups, foods fortified with vitamins and minerals, food supplements, foods specifically formulated for celiacs) are subject to electronic notification to the Ministry of Health, DGISAN, Office IV. (7)

‘Junk food’?

Chiara Manzi – approaching the pharmacy shelves where Enervit products are displayed – she continues by stating that these are ‘Junk food’ which ‘it is not good, on the contrary it is bad for health’. The invective continues with a review of the products from the successful EnerZona line, with the announcement that ‘With open eyes we carefully look at the labels to avoid… damaging our health’.

Junk food, according to established scientific literature, is characterized by excessive levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and/or salt. They are therefore defined as HFSS (High in Fats, Sugar and Sodium) and have nothing to do with the products denigrated by Salvagente, which are instead formulated to meet balanced diet and nutrition needs.

Meal replacement products, emphasizes the nutritionist – who obviously ignores the treatment protocols for obese patients, as well as despising the work of the professional category to which she herself belongs – ‘are not good for health, do not help with weight loss and indeed can be really harmful’. And the adventure continues with a myopic reading of the labels.

False product classification

‘The meal replacement  they offer us is 282 calories, a truly starvation meal replacement’, continues Chiara Manzi, misinterpreting the label she pretends to read. In fact:

– the 'food ration substitutes for weight control' are distinguished by the same legal name and must be formulated in compliance with a daily ration defined by a European regulation. (4) The products thus classified and easy to distinguish, based on the doses and indications provided on the label approved by the Ministry of Health, have an energy value that ranges in the  range 200-250 Kcal,

– just read the label to see that it is instead a ‘instant milk shake enriched with magnesium, based on whey protein and fructose. Without preservatives and colorants’

– the product targeted by Chiara Manzi, EnerZona Instant Meal strawberry flavor, is not a ‘meal replacement’ but rather represents three blocks of the Zone diet, in line with the protein-carbohydrate-fat balance developed by Barry Sears (creator of the famous and undisputed diet).

Ingredients and hoaxes

The myths of Chiara Manzi – perhaps lacking basic knowledge of food technology and scientific research – then indulge in the nature and characteristics of the ingredients:

– whole milk powder, ‘an ultra-processed milk’? False. Just read the works of Professor Carlos Monteiro, creator of the NOVA food classification system, to verify how milk is instead a minimally processed food, as it is subjected only to thermal treatments (pasteurization or sterilization) and physical ones (with possible filtrations and  spray-drying, for the transition from liquid to powder form), without adding other ingredients or additives,

– fructose, ‘a sugar processed from sucrose, table sugar’? Myth. Fructose, in modern times, is produced from starch through enzymatic processes, much more simply than extraction from other sources,

– freeze-dried strawberries. ‘Strawberries have lost any type of vitamin because they have been freeze-dried’? False! Freeze-drying (freeze-drying) is the most preserving vegetable dehydration technique, as well as the most expensive, designed precisely to maximize the preservation of the nutritional integrity of thermolabile components. Namely, the vitamins. (9)

Glycemic index

The confusion reigns when the nutritionist states that ‘sugars have a very high glycemic index because they lack fiber’. It is noted in this regard that:

– the glycemic index (Glycaemic Index, GI) of sucrose is 100, but

– fructose instead has a glycemic index < 25, one of the lowest among sweetening substances,

– the ingredient list, compiled  ex lege in descending order by weight, shows how fructose is the main sugar contained in the EnerZona product. Not by chance, as glycemic index control was Barry Sears’ first insight in developing the Zone diet,

– dietary fibers are not lacking at all. The nutritional declaration shown in the video indicates 1.8 g / 100 g, that is 60% of the value required to use a specific  nutrition claim.

‘Preservatives?’ False

The  fake news perhaps more sensational – pronounced by those who encourage to ‘read labels carefully’ – concerns the alleged presence of preservatives in the product in front of oneself. False.

Preservatives  are identified on the label, like every other additive, because their name must be preceded by the indication of the category they belong to (e.g. preservative: potassium sorbate).

How is it possible that the so-called expert reads a wording not present on the label of a product that does not contain preservatives, and even boasts their absence?

Chicory fiber

‘When the fiber is hydrolyzed of chicory sugar is obtained, mostly fructose which is the most harmful sugar’, states Chiara Manzi. A misleading news, considering that:

– the hydrolysis of chicory fiber generates a dominant portion (about 85%) of prebiotic fiber, fructooligosaccharides (FOS), and a minor portion of sugar (about 15%),

– the fructooligosaccharides are prebiotics known for their beneficial properties. In fact, the Ministry of Health authorizes the use of the health claim ‘Promotes the balance of intestinal flora’ on foods containing them, under the conditions established in its ‘Linee guida su probiotici e prebiotici’. (10)

Maltitol and cunning

Maltitol  is indicated, in the Salvagente video, as ‘a clever way to insert sugar into products’. Yet another misleading news:

– maltitol belongs to the family of polyols, derived from starches. They are known as ‘bulk sweeteners’ because, like sugar, they allow to give texture to doughs where they are used. Their sweetening power is variably lower than sugar, the energy value is lower (2.5 instead of 4 kcal/g),

– polyols differ significantly from sugar due to their extremely reduced glycemic index and the possibility of consumption by diabetic patients. The European Commission has indeed authorized a specific health claim

– ‘the intake of food and drinks containing [name of polyols] instead of sugar causes a smaller increase in blood glucose after their consumption compared to foods and drinks containing sugar’. (11)

The real ‘cleverness’ regarding polyols it can perhaps be glimpsed, rather, in the erythritol sachets that Chiara Manzi's company presents as a ‘natural polyol’ and sells  online at the modest price of €59/kg, ‘also in installments without interest’. (12)

Preliminary conclusions

The counter-advertisement of Salvagente with Chiara Manzi can deceive the general public, and this is the objective of the tele-nutritionist. This mishmash of  fake news artfully constructed – some of which were not even mentioned in the previous paragraph, due to overload for the listener – is however destined for an effect  boomerang.

The consumers, less naive than one might think, are well able to recognize the value of the products of those who (not by chance) have been for decades the  leader of the market. Pharmacists are equally sensitive to those who portray them as merchants of harmful foods. Everyone will be able to assess the credibility and correctness of the author and the publisher of this video.

Dario Dongo

Notes

(1) Riccardo Quintili. The video inquiry of “Eyes Open” on dietary supplements sold in pharmacies. https://ilsalvagente.it/2023/09/05/la-video-inchiesta-di-occhi-aperti-sui-dietetici-venduti-in-farmacia/  Il Salvagente. 5.9.23

(2) Antiaging Italian Food Srl, Via Alfredo Testoni 10, 40123 Bologna. VAT number 03738681208.

(3) Regulation (EU) No. 609/2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control – in repealing Directive 1989/398/EEC, excluded from its scope both foods for athletes and gluten-free foods (then reserving to the subsequent EU Reg. 828/14 the regulation of foods specifically formulated for celiacs)

(4) I ‘sostituti dell’intera razione alimentare giornaliera per il controllo del peso’ sono soggetti a prescrizioni specifiche in materia di composizione, per quanto attiene a valore energetico (kcal), proteine, colina, acido linoleico, acido alfa-linoleico, carboidrati, vitamine, minerali. ‘L’energia fornita dai sostituti dell’intera razione alimentare giornaliera per il controllo del peso non deve essere inferiore a 600 kcal e non deve superare 1 200 kcal per l’intera razione giornaliera’ (Allegato I al Reg. UE 2017/1798, che integra il regolamento UE 609/2013 del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio per quanto riguarda le prescrizioni specifiche in materia di composizione e di informazione per i sostituti dell’intera razione alimentare giornaliera per il controllo del peso)

(5) CrowdfundMe, Antiaging Italian Food. False information to investors about a campaign of  crowdfunding? To be verified

(6) Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, on the addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods

(7) The notification of regulated foods must include data relating to: authorized production establishment; composition, form of presentation/format/flavors and daily dose, where applicable; ingredient list; quantity of ingredients, where prescribed; legal name of the food; any  nutrition and health claims; copy of the label conforming to that used for marketing, in pdf format

(8) Marta Strinati. Profile of ultra-processed foods, excess of critical nutrients and ‘cosmetic’ additives. Food Times. 2.9.23

(9) Sagar Bhatta, Tatjana Stevanovic Janezic,
Cristina Ratti. Freeze-Drying of Plant-Based Foods.  Foods. 2020 Jan; 9(1): 87. doi: 10.3390/foods9010087

(10) Ministry of Health, DGISAN, Office 4. Guidelines on prebiotics and prebiotics. Revision March 2018

(11) Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health

(12) The so-called ‘Europe’s top expert in Culinary Nutrition and Antiaging Cooking’ offers payment by installments on all his products, including the modest ‘Starter Kit for Cooking with the Scientific Method Cucina Evolution (with Goduria 250g and a Free Video Course)’ on ‘sale’ for 89.90 euros