You may be able to cheat at poker when you play with your friends, but when you go to the poker playing mecca, you can be sure nobody in Vegas will let you pull the wool over their eyes. Don’t get the wool pulled over yours either. When it comes to food, manufacturers know that more people will buy their product if it claims to “lower cholesterol” or “boost immunity.” But many of these companies are cheating, and few people know the rulebook well enough to blow the whistle.

When you see a statement on the front of a carton of yogurt that says “helps builds strong bones,” it is called a structure/function claim. What that means is that the company is making a statement that this product has an effect on a particular function or structure of the body as a result of a nutrient or dietary ingredient in the product. In order to make a structure/function claim, the FDA requires that the claim be truthful and not misleading. A company must have substantial evidence for the statement before making the claim. This is where most companies go wrong. “Clinically proven” a label shouts. That sounds legitimate, right? Legitimately vague. Many companies will struggle big time to produce valid studies substantiating a claim, so when they find any research, they go crazy, even if the evidence is inconclusive. How about yogurt “with probiotics to aid digestion!” Um… Dear Yoplait, all yogurt contains probiotics that help digestion. Nice marketing though. Love, Savvy consumer.

Even when the claims are legitimate, like Cheerio boxes that say “helps reduce cholesterol,” keep your head in the game. Eating a bowl of O’s every morning isn’t going to solve your cholesterol woes overnight. Structure/function claims frequently do have some legitimacy; just don’t buy into the outrageousness that any product will “boosts your brain!” Sorry Charlie, nothing is going to ‘boost your brain’ enough to get you from staff ass to chief of staff in a week.

Cheaters never prosper.