We’re used to absurdly bad nutrition advice traveling at the speed of a facebook share. Really though, humans have been spreading terrible nutrition advice since the existence of humans, nutrition, and advice.
Let’s talk about the time the French were like “l’oranges c’est merde” and panicked most of Europe into thinking they had to choose between scurvy or cancer.
Today’s Moment of Science… the Villejuif Leaflet.
Shat into existence somewhere in France in 1976, that’s about all we know about the origins of the Villejuif leaflet. Who started it, why, and what their scientific reasoning was? Nobody has ever found out.
The leaflet was thus named due to its origins being falsely attributed to a hospital in Villejuif, a municipality in the Parisian suburbs. It was printed and distributed on something that appeared to be the hospital’s letterhead. Even though the hospital was like “we don’t know her,” they couldn’t stop the continued dissemination of physical flyers with their name on it. It was distributed far and wide, across several European countries, eventually making its way to the Middle East and Africa.
It was a simple list of compounds in food that you should avoid because Jesus Tittyfucking Christ this shit is killing you as we speak. Identified by their ‘E number,’ a code the European Union uses to identify food additives, it listed which compounds in foods were toxic, carcinogenic, and just plain “dangerous.” It said which substances caused kidney stones, skin problems, vascular issues, and the destruction of vitamin B12.
Look, I’m not saying they used the whole ‘E numbers’ gambit to scare people.
I’m totally not saying that.
Nope.
But they were like “know what’s wicked fucking toxic? Chlorophyll, cellulose, and citric acid.” Specifically, they claimed citric acid was the most toxic thing, “le plus dangereux” in a list of carcinogens.
Fucking yikes.
There’s a possible explanation for how this boner came to pass. Citric acid is vital to the Krebs cycle, and the word ‘kreb’ is German for ‘cancer.’ So perhaps “you need a bit of this stuff or you’re gonna die” was mistranslated to “A BIT OF THIS STUFF AND YOU’RE GONNA FUCKING DIE.” Or something, my German is rusty. Apparently so was theirs.
The good news is that experts saw the leaflet and were immediately like “you have to be goddamn kidding me, get out of here with this nonsense.” They quickly told everyone it was bullshit.
The bad news is that bullshit spread at the speed of a Facebook share long before Facebook. The information traveled around Europe for about a decade while journalists published the list practically verbatim. All levels of education from elementary schools up to medical schools were given the information from the leaflet as fact.
Why wouldn’t it be legitimate? It came from the highly reputable Villejuif Hospital, of course.
This has been your daily Moment of Science, reminding you to double check your sources, lest your new diet is clinically impossible.
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