The mythologization of protein: a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of snacks packaging

Abstract

This paper examines how protein snacks are marketed as good food choices through their packaging and how these packages reproduce a discoursewhat we see as a mythof the benefits of high protein intake. Research shows that consumers believe high protein food has a positive impact on physical performance and body composition, although there is very little evidence of this. Protein foods and beverages are nevertheless one of the fastest growing sectors in the food market and we now see food companies exploit peoples' beliefs by adding protein to food that was formerly seen as unhealthy. Adopting a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) we look in detail at the packaging of a group of snacks that are usually high in fat and sugar but now appear as good food options, particularly through accentuating the protein content. The analysis shows that the packages market these products as an outcome of scientific modern technology, but this is done in playful and comforting ways. This goes along with neoliberal ideas about wellness and demands of an active lifestyle. From these findings, we discuss the limitations of existing regulations as marketing shape and capitalize on discourses of health.

Connoting a neoliberal and entrepreneurial discourse of science through infographics and integrated design: the case of ‘functional’ healthy drinks

“…Mapes (2020) points to a range of semiotic resources, such as symbolic Swiss visuals, region dialect, and aesthetical packaging design are assembled together to signify a sense of locality, authenticity and sustainability for products designed for wealthy middle-class consumers. Chen and Eriksson (2019) show how food producers reinforce the myth of high-protein consumption by linking it to neoliberal ideas about wellness and demands for an active lifestyle. Of importance is that the way nature, political past, morality, sustainability or being fit and healthy is conveyed ceases to be concrete or transparent but colonised by commercial interests.…”

Flesh-formers or fads? Historicizing the contemporary protein-enhanced food trend

“…Consequently, it is unsurprising that a major theme that runs across all advertisements by Plasmon and Emprote is an emphasis on scientific rationality to support claims about the nutritional benefits of consuming proteid food. However, just as Chen and Eriksson (2019) have demonstrated in a modern-day context, detailed analysis reveals that these claims were often pseudo-scientific and allowed untested assumptions around protein being a better diet choice to become a belief.…”

“…The two circles that flank the list evoke wholeness and perfection, again linking the consumption of Plasmon to being a good person who cares about their wellbeing (Ledin and Machin 2018, 185). Infographics are also a device used by contemporary protein-food manufacturers to compare products (Chen and Eriksson 2019). Although EU regulation 1169/ 2011 sets out that the products being compared must be clearly identified, this is often not the case, but the association between infographics and science leads consumers to believe that the comparisons are based on statistical evidence and that one is a better choice than the other.…”

“…Contemporary western society is marked by what some researchers have called "protein mania" (Fleming 2019), with more than half of all consumers actively seeking to purchase protein-enhanced foods based on the conviction that they will improve exercise performance, decrease recovery time, build strength and reduce the risk of injury (Hartmann and Siegrist 2016;Samal and Samal 2018). This has driven food manufacturers to increasingly "mythologize" protein and connect it to broader cultural values of healthiness and wellbeing (Chen and Eriksson 2019). However, the obsession with proteinenhanced foods, in fact, has much deeper roots in the late nineteenth century when casein was first extracted from cow's milk and turned into a soluble powder.…”

“…The aim of this paper is to historicize our understanding of the contemporary protein trend by investigating the marketing of two popular proteid foods -Plasmon and Emprote -in early twentieth-century Britain. It builds upon the recent work of Chen and Eriksson (2019), who explored the "mythologization" of protein in a contemporary context, and contributes to the growing body of transhistorical research that is concerned with explaining and situating apparently "new" phenomena within a longer trajectory of practice and use (Tagg and Evans 2020). Using a dataset of 105 advertisements from 1900 to 1930, collected largely from the British Newspaper Archive, I specifically seek to address the following interrelated questions:…”