"Washing” has evolved from a word to a sword, cutting across the marketing and ad platforms of today.
Greenwashing. Healthwashing…It is a gauntlet of a suffix, thrown down at the feet—if not across the face—of those who would see the coveted “health halo” share its glow with the very categories which have made the terms necessary.
Healthwashing, according to Potter Clarkson, is the term used to describe the act of making a product (most frequently a food or drink) appear healthier than it is by making certain claims*. Think of the images we often see of fresh fruits and vegetables decorating cereal boxes, concentrate-made juices, sodas, and other products that use a fraction, if any, of the depicted item.
Yet it is not the fresh produce aisle that depicts the majority of famous athletes, nor does it claim the coveted ad spaces in key media spots.
With health and ingredients top of mind, consumers are working to separate the messaging from the facts. But, despite the colloquial nature of the term “greenwashing” in the sustainability arena, an equivalent to the same battle being waged for “fresh” has yet to catch on. Truthfully, “freshwashing” is quicker to turn up a laundry-related search than any raging debates about false depictions of produce. The tinder is piling, though, awaiting just the right fuse. The latest to be added to the smoldering fires are bills in transparency, even a declaration from Dr. Marty Makary, Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to increase transparency in nutrition labeling, require products claiming to contain fruits and vegetables to disclose the actual amount per serving, and—most importantly for this article—mandate a “contains no fruits and vegetables” label for products that misleadingly depict them**.
The pieces are in place, and with a few strong mainstream champions to concur on and coin a term that will bring this fight to the feeds of all media, the battle is set to ignite and spread. If “Got Milk” can revive an entire industry, and “greenwashing” can become a mainstream weapon, imagine what the combination of such concepts could do for fresh produce. 
