Communicating health risks via the media: what can we learn from MasterChef Australia?

Is it a coincidence the television cooking show, MasterChef Australia (MCA), is enjoying unprecedented viewer popularity at the height of a declared global obesity epidemic? Is it an accident that MCA essentially offers a pleasurable rediscovery of foods that, to all intents and purposes, have been declared ‘forbidden’ by current dietary guidelines? Can the unexpected success of this type of show provide innovative information for more effective communication of health risks via the media?