The Nutrition Misinformation in the Digital Age report, authored by Rooted Research Collective (RRC) and the Freedom Food Alliance (FFA), identified 53 influential social media personalities, with a combined following of 24 million, who frequently promoted misleading nutrition claims, often linked to personal product sales.
The authors said the vast majority of these influencers were actively promoting their own supplement lines. What’s more, nearly 20% presented themselves as credentialed health professionals or medical doctors, despite lacking verifiable qualifications.
Alice Millbank, co-founder and chief scientific officer at RRC, told NutraIngredients the functional food and supplements industry is an essential piece of the nutrition information puzzle.
“This industry plays a really important role in all this, and we would like to make sure it remains credible by ensuring it doesn’t promise a silver bullet,” the cellular agriculture PhD researcher explained.
“One of the things from our research that stood out for me is that most of the super spreaders had their own range of supplements they were promoting. If you are promoting supplements, it shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all solution. These things should always be part of a wider picture of healthy lifestyle changes.”
The FFA is dedicated to combating food misinformation, while RRC works to support the food and drink industry to advance sustainable food systems through research, consulting, marketing, education and thought leadership.
Millbank will attend the NutraIngredients Active Nutrition Summit later this month alongside other industry communication experts to present the research findings and discuss action points.
Hack attack
Speaking to NutraIngredients ahead of her appearance, Millbank explained that nutrition is a complex subject, which makes silver bullets and ‘hacks’ very appealing.
“Super spreaders exploit that confusion by recounting their emotive and personal stories and providing dangerously simple answers dressed up as hacks, often driven by profit, not science,” she said.
She suggested businesses wanting to spread nutrition information ethically could learn from the emotive and personal nature of super spreaders’ posts.
“When brands use transparency and empathy along with effective story telling that’s a great way to get engagement,” she said.
Learn more at the Active Nutrition Summit
From June 23-25, industry leaders, researchers and innovators will gather in Vienna, Austria, for three days of cutting-edge insights, dynamic discussions and engaging networking opportunities.
The three-day summit will offer a one-stop shop for the latest must-have insights in the world of active nutrition and will cover the state of the market, essential insights on marketing, regulation and social media, mind health, personalization, the female athlete and many more topics. Take a look at our program to learn more.
The profiting ‘super spreaders’
The report stated the super spreaders could be categorized into recognizable patterns: the ‘Doc’ who leverages credentials, the ‘Rebel’ who spreads anti-establishment conspiracies and the ‘Hustler’ who uses persuasive marketing to sell products and diets.
Many were capitalizing on their posts, with 96% having a financial incentive of some description, such as owning their own brand of supplements or offering affiliate links providing commission for promoting supplements.
Global health risk
In its Global Risk Report published in 2025, the World Economic Forum (WEF) identified misinformation and disinformation as the leading risk over the next two years—ranking above extreme weather events and state-based armed conflict.
NutraIngredients has previously reported on the growing concerns, especially for young people using social media as their main source of information.
The RRC report calls for a three-part policy response to combat the rise of nutrition misinformation: Put practical nutrition and digital literacy on the school curriculum; invest in training trusted, UK-based nutrition professionals to use social media effectively; and finally, provide misinformation training and enforce ethical.