As I read through this thread, I'm also listening to a recorded interview with
Howard Lyman, interviewed by Kevin Gianni of renegadehealth.com. He spent several years as a lobbyist in DC, and he is stating that essentially anyone throwing enough money at a position will get lobbyists promoting it.
It all comes down to greed. The primary reason that anything in the US economy is promoted by large corporations is that it makes them profits.
Getting back to the topic, my favorite deceptive practice is putting "No Cholesterol!!" on potato chips and snack foods that are essentially vegetable- or wheat-based. How many people don't realize that only animal products contain cholesterol?