Here is the Food Babes entry in Wikipedia. They got it right. Vani Hari, also known on her blog as the Food Babe,[2] is an American hoax artist known for her criticism of the American food industry. She has gathered over 350,000 signatures via petitions pressuring food companies to remove ingredients from their products or change their production processes.[2][3] Companies including Kraft, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, and Subway, have changed or reconsidered ingredients in their products as a result of her campaigns.[4][5] The claims made by Hari have been discredited by various scientists and stated to lack a scientific basis.[6][7] Professor Joseph A. Schwarcz stated on his blog that She has no understanding of chemistry or food science.[8] Dr. David Gorski, contributor to the blog, Science-Based Medicine, opined that Hari has been a malignant force promoting ignorance about food.[9] Contents 1 Career 1.1 Chick-fil-A 1.2 Chipotle 1.3 2012 Democratic National Convention 1.4 Kraft Foods 1.5 Subway 1.6 Beer 1.7 Other campaigns 2 References 3 External links Career Chick-fil-A In 2011, Hari wrote a piece about over 100 ingredients in Chick-fil-A sandwiches which she alleged to be harmful. Chick-fil-A responded to Haris post in May 2012, inviting her to its headquarters in Atlanta to work with the company and discuss her concerns.[4][10] In large part because of Haris efforts, Chick-fil-A announced in late 2013 it was removing dyes, artificial corn syrup, and TBHQ from their products along with announcing a plan to only use antibiotic free chickens within the next five years.[4][11][12][13] Chipotle Hari investigated what ingredients were used at Chipotle Mexican Grill to prepare their food starting in 2012. Haris investigation revealed the company was using genetically modified ingredients in their cooking oil, trans fats in its tortillas, and that their black beans contained GMO soybean oil. One week after posting her investigation to Foodbabe, Chipotle communications director Chris Arnold requested a meeting with Hari to discuss the public disclosure of its ingredients.[14][15] In March 2013, as a result of Haris efforts, Chipotle published its full ingredients list on all menu items, including where Chipotle uses GMOs.[16][15] 2012 Democratic National Convention Haris activism brought national media attention when she protested the increasing prevalence of GMOs in Americas food supply during the 2012 Democratic National Convention as an elected delegate. Hari sat on the first row of the convention floor and held a sign that read, “Label GMOs!” protesting the use of GMOs during Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsacks speech.[17][18][19] Hari said President Barack Obama broke a promise that he made during his 2008 presidential campaign to label genetically modified food: “I ran to be a delegate again to make sure he stays accountable for that decision. He hasn’t addressed it once.”[17] Kraft Foods Hari petitioned Kraft Foods to remove certain petroleum-based artificial food dyes from Mac & Cheese, which received over 270,000 signatures on Change.org.[2] She held a tasting event outside of a Chicago grocery store to compare the UK version of Kraft Mac & Cheese, which doesnt contain the dyes with the US version. Hari also went to Krafts headquarters just outside of Chicago to drop off the petition in person and voice her concerns.[20] Haris campaign received worldwide media coverage, and after seven months of communication, Kraft responded by removing the dye from all their products aimed at children.[21][22][23] Subway In 2014, Hari launched a petition against Subway to remove azodicarbonamide from their sandwich bread. In 24 hours the petition gathered more than 50,000 signatures.[3] Subway, the worlds largest sandwich chain, quickly responded by announcing a plan to remove the chemical from all of their sandwich breads. Additionally Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and Publix Super Markets announced they would remove the chemical as well.[5][24][25][26] Dr. Steven Novella, of Yale University and the New England Skeptical Society, criticized the petition by Hari, describing the campaign as unscientific and a case of food-based fear mongering. [27] Beer On June 11, 2014, Hari posted a petition on FoodBabe to pressure major brewers to list the ingredients in their products.[28] On June 12, 2014, Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors released ingredients in many of their most popular products for the first time.[29] Anheuser-Busch listed ingredients in its Budweiser and Bud Light products, and announced plans to list the ingredients for other brands including Beck’s, Busch, and Michelob.[29] MillerCoors posted the ingredients in Miller Lite, Coors Light and six other brands on its Facebook page.[29] The Treasury Department regulates brewers, not the Food and Drug Administration, and does not require them to list ingredients.[30] Hari’s online petition gathered more than 44,000 signatures in two days.[31] Blogger Dr. David Gorski responded that the beer companies had fallen victim to the latest quack making a name for herself on the Internet by peddling pseudoscience.[32] Other campaigns In October 2011, Hari posted an article on her blog titled Should I get the Flu Shot? in which she claimed that seasonal influenza vaccines are both harmful and ineffective, and urged her readers to consider avoiding them. In her post, Hari claimed that common constituents in flu shots including aluminum, thimerosal, formaldehyde, egg products, and sucrose would cause adverse reactions in users. She stated that she would never ingest any of the aforementioned ingredients herself, claiming that the medical community endorses them due to corruption and greed.[33] Mark Crislip, an infectious disease doctor and contributor to the Science-Based Medicine blog, wrote a response piece entitled Scam Stud in which he sharply criticized Haris claims. [34] Hari has campaigned against the use of microwave ovens, believing them to cause water molecules to form crystals that resemble other crystals which have been exposed to the names of Hitler and Satan, along with negative thoughts or beliefs.[35] She cites the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto in support of this claim.[36] Dr. Novella calls Emotos claims pure pseudoscience and finds that Hari’s conclusions about microwaves are all demonstrably incorrect and at odds with the scientific evidence.[37]
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:35:52 +0000
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