Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK.
Department of Fundamental, Prophylactic and Clinical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine, Transylvania University of Brasov, Bdul Eroilor Nr 29, 500039, Brasov, Romania.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2019 Aug 2;19(1):196. doi: 10.1186/s12906-019-2602-9.
The rise in use of food supplements based on botanical ingredients (herbal supplements) is depicted as part of a trend empowering consumers to manage their day-to-day health needs, which presupposes access to clear and accurate information to make effective choices. Evidence regarding herbal supplement efficacy is extremely variable so recent regulations eliminating unsubstantiated claims about potential effects leave producers able to provide very little information about their products. Medical practitioners are rarely educated about herbal supplements and most users learn about them via word-of-mouth, allowing dangerous misconceptions to thrive, chief among them the assumption that natural products are inherently safe. Print media is prolific among the information channels still able to freely discuss herbal supplements.
This study thematically analyses how 76 newspaper/magazine articles from the UK, Romania and Italy portray the potential risks and benefits of herbal supplements.
Most articles referenced both risks and benefits and were factually accurate but often lacked context and impartiality. More telling was how the risks and benefits were framed in service of a chosen narrative, the paucity of authoritative information allowing journalists leeway to recontextualise herbal supplements in ways that serviced the goals and values of their specific publications and readerships.
Providing sufficient information to empower consumers should not be the responsibility of print media, instead an accessible source of objective information is required.
以植物成分为基础的食品补充剂（草本补充剂）的使用增加，被描绘为一种赋予消费者管理日常健康需求的趋势的一部分，这意味着他们需要获得清晰准确的信息来做出有效的选择。关于草本补充剂功效的证据非常多样化，因此最近的法规取消了对潜在效果的未经证实的说法，这使得生产者几乎无法提供有关其产品的任何信息。医疗从业者很少接受有关草本补充剂的教育，大多数使用者通过口口相传了解它们，这使得危险的误解得以滋生，其中最主要的是认为天然产品本质上是安全的。在能够自由讨论草本补充剂的信息渠道中，印刷媒体仍然非常丰富。
本研究通过主题分析的方法，分析了来自英国、罗马尼亚和意大利的 76 篇报纸/杂志文章如何描述草本补充剂的潜在风险和益处。
大多数文章都提到了风险和益处，并且内容准确，但往往缺乏背景和公正性。更能说明问题的是，风险和益处是如何为既定的叙述服务的，缺乏权威性信息使得记者有机会重新构建草本补充剂，以服务于他们特定出版物和读者的目标和价值观。
为消费者提供足够的信息以赋予他们权力不应该是印刷媒体的责任，相反，需要有一个可访问的客观信息来源。
