Healthwasher: (health’-wah-sher)
Misrepresenter. A person or company that purports to care about health, but sells/promotes food/products/services that lead to poor health.
Healthwashing is a term I co-coined with a client in 2009 used to describe the activities of companies and groups that position themselves as leaders in the crusade forward to good health while engaging in practices that may be contributing to our poor health, collectively and as a society. It was created as a take on “greenwashing” and I have also written about “philanthropywashing” and “farmersmarketwashing”, and so on.
Healthwashing is rampant and causes me outrage …. this outrage and awareness offers me more clarity as it has taught me to pay more attention and to question everything.
The Wellness Intelligence Collective (TWIC) is now a place and space where I share a weekly lesson in Empathy Economics, which can help you be a better consumer … one with Wellness Intelligence. You’ll learn how to spot the Healthwashers and also get resources that are best in class.
Please feel free to express and share your questions (or outrage), as well as any photos and/or examples of Healthwashing as you encounter them. It might be a sign on a restaurant, an online campaign, an ad, product packaging … anything that you feel misrepresents its healthy claim. Please include the Healthwasher’s contact information (company name, social media handles) so as members we can kindly send the “offenders” questions, solutions, and honest, kind, thoughts … this is how we can, together, bring more transparency to the wellness “industry”.
A good product, campaign or service stands on their own goodness, not on a claim and offers FULL DISCLOSURE of all ingredients and activity.
Join us in TWIC here. We don’t stand for wellness washing in there!
Listen to Lisa talk about Healthwashing with The Holistic Bitch here.
