We are not the first to point out that there is something funky about the famous “food pyramid”. Just when normal folk are beginning to question whether nutritional science is as settled as the cereal boxes say, Tufts School of Nutrition has released the shiny new Food Compass. 

Pirate Wires made it the subject of a recent blog post, since Tufts had spent “3 years and millions of dollars” designing it. The organizers were invited to the White House to discuss their “most comprehensive and science-based nutrient profiling system to date”. The findings? “Lucky Charms are healthier than steak.” 

The whole endeavor should be laughed away, but as Pirate Wires explains, these ideas don’t stay in the academy. This is just a thinly disguised ploy for “Big Food to push more of their high-margin, processed products on the American consumer.” 

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While we’re talking about foodie things… Mentalfloss tried to explain why vanilla, which was a “once rare and precious” flavor is now associated with anything “uninspired and commonplace”.