( 121 ) 



The public was poorly prepared to evaluate these nutri- 

 tional discoveries or to incorporate them into the diet. The 

 distance between the scientist and millions of consumers is 

 far greater than folks think and the food expert is willing to 

 admit. Consequently a whole crop of food fads arose, some of 

 which had a sound nutritional basis and some of which were 

 merely promotional schemes. 



First it was "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," which 

 caused the wits to observe that an onion a day would keep 

 everybody away. Then came a period when liquid foods came 

 forward; orange juice, tomato juice, and grapefruit juice 

 were in vogue. There was a burst of interest in bulky rough- 

 ages such as lettuce and garden greens, and more recently a 

 reversion to the concentrates such as vitamin tablets. Cod- 

 liver oil was one of the unique fads. The question arose 

 whether to take it straight or with orange juice, and whether 

 to take it before or after meals. We counted first our calories 

 and then our vitamins. Scores of dietitians urged us to eat 

 spinach, but we resisted. PopEye the Sailor kidded millions, 

 including the senior author, into eating it and liking it, but 

 never had any effect on the junior author. 



On some of these fads one might survive longer than one 

 would care to live. 



Apparently most nutritionists detest the puns, jokes, radio 

 skits, and exaggerated advertisements about their work, but 

 such methods are much more effective in selling the results 

 of their work to the millions than scholarly articles in sci- 

 entific journals or so-called popular articles in respectable 

 highbrow magazines. The American public dearly loves to be 

 sold something. This holds true for food as well as other 

 things. A quarter of a century ago the public wanted to be 

 sold the milk program; today it is vitamins, and tomorrow 

 it will be something else. 



Fads, like Fulton's steamboat, are good things to laugh 



