Big deal Quote by John Stossel
““When I was a kid, my mother thought spinach was the healthiest food in the world because it contained so much iron. Getting enough iron was a big deal then because we didn't have 'iron-fortified' bread. Turns out that spinach is an okay source of iron, but no better than pizza, pistachio nuts, cooked lentils, or dried peaches. The spinach-iron myth grew out of a simple mathematical miscalculation: A researcher accidentally moved a decimal point one space, so he thought spinach had 10 times more iron than it did. The press reported it, and I had to eat spinach. Moving the decimal point was an honest mistake--but it's seldom that simple. If it happened today I'd suspect a spinach lobby was behind it. Businesses often twist science to make money. Lawyers do it to win cases. Political activists distort science to fit their agenda, bureaucrats to protect their turf. Reporters keep falling for it. Scientists sometimes go along with it because they like being famous.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: John Stossel Show, 2005
The belief that spinach is exceptionally iron‑rich stems from a decimal‑point error, illustrating how scientific facts can be misrepresented for profit or agenda.
In simple terms: Spinach iron myth arose from a math mistake and shows how facts get twisted.
Question sources and demand evidence.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- nutrition advice
- policy making
- media reporting
- consumer decisions
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we verify nutritional claims?
- What safeguards prevent scientific distortion?
Not all misinformation is intentional; some arise from simple errors.