If your daily diet includes orange juice, a dash of coconut oil and a typical muesli bar, don't expect a tick of approval from a nutritionist.
A survey of more than 1000 adults and more than 130 nutrition experts shows there's a surprisingly big gap between what the public and nutrition experts believe is healthy.
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Health experts want cartoons off junk food
Research by the Obesity Policy Coalition found food packaging which used cartoons was often unhealthy.
"Products like coconut oil, gluten-free cakes, orange juice, muesli bars and frozen yoghurt, which are heavily marketed as good for us, were seen as healthy by a much higher proportion of the public than nutritionists surveyed," said Alison McAleese of Cancer Council, and Heart Foundation Victoria's Livelighter campaign.
A whopping 75 per cent of respondents rated coconut oil – the ingredient du jour – as "healthy" while 85 per cent of nutritionists disagreed.
Seventy-one per cent believed orange juice was healthy (compared to 24 per cent of nutrition experts), 44 per cent thought gluten-free cakes were good for the body (compared to 6 per cent), and 52 per cent said muesli bars were healthy (compared to 18 per cent).
"Just a few years ago, few people would have heard of coconut oil, let alone know where to buy it or what to do with it [but] now it's frequently sold as a health product, which in reality is very high in saturated fat and should not be consumed regularly as part of a healthy diet," Ms McAleese said.
At the other end of the scale are foods such as peanut butter, pasta and popcorn.
Forty-eight per cent of those surveyed said peanut butter was healthy (compared to 78 per cent of nutrition experts), 68 per cent rated pasta as a good-for-you food (compared to a massive 96 per cent), and 50 per cent said popcorn was healthy (versus 75 per cent).
"When nutritionists say popcorn is healthy, they're most likely thinking of a typical serve of air-popped popcorn, maybe with a sprinkle of herbs or spices, not the salty, buttery variety sold in enormous buckets at the movies," Ms McAleese said.
She said the same applied for nutritionists' attitudes towards pasta, peanut butter and jacket potatoes.
"In their original state these foods are good for us," Ms McAleese said. "It's when other ingredients like cream, butter, processed meats and salt are added that they become less healthy."
Nutritionist Joanna McMillan said the growing number of sources for nutrition advice was confusing, even misleading, people.
She said some muesli bars were healthier than others, with the worst "more akin to a confectionary bar".
In regards to the "brilliantly marketed" coconut oil, she said there was no evidence behind the "outrageous" marketing claims and there should be stricter labelling laws.
"It is largely celebrity endorsement that has driven the rise of coconut oil, yet why do people listen to a celebrity over a dietitian or degree-qualified nutritionist?" Dr McMillan said.
She said orange juice was a "high sugar drink" that should be consumed in small amounts.
Gluten-free cake was another food that caused confusion. "What to remember is that a cake is still a cake, whether it's made with wheat flour or a gluten-free flour such as rice flour," she said.
Dr McMillan said the "current carb-bragging" was unhelpful because a balanced pasta meal could be healthy.
"Pasta has a low GI and so those carbs are slowly absorbed, even the white varieties," she said. "It delivers a decent amount of protein and if you choose a wholegrain variety, it also delivers significant levels of fibre."
And peanut butter, she explained, was full of good fats, offered fibre, plant protein and a bunch of nutrients.
"Eaten in appropriate portions it's a fabulous food and much better than regular butter," Dr McMillan said. "But do look for one with 100 per cent peanuts and no salt or sugar or oil added," she said.
Heart Foundation Victoria's Roni Beauchamp said even consumers who wanted to pick healthier options were being confused and taken advantage of by marketers.
"People have a desire for practical information on health and nutrition so they can make confident, informed decisions but to allow this, information should be both accessible and accurate," she said.