012: Vani Hari, Food Babe: Fear Mongerer or Voice of the People?

Vani makes her living making food companies angry. She challenges them on the chemicals they use to make manufactured food more addictive, longer-lasting and as cheap as possible to produce. And she’s not quiet about it.

Is she alarmist? Unabashedly, yes. Her headlines are notoriously, um, cloying at times. (Did you catch the infamous “Do You Eat Beaver Butt?” post?)  ...And it would be easy to write her off as an obnoxious headline-grabber who is just looking to generate a following by making big companies like Kraft, Starbucks, Kellogg, and General Mills look bad. Except, isn’t there something backward here? 

Vani Hari receives death threats on a regular basis because she is telling the world what food manufacturers opt to put in our food supply. Huh?

What’s wrong with this picture?

From her site:

Back when Congress gave the FDA authority over food additives (in 1958), there were about 800 additives. Today, the number of known ingredients has swelled to more than 10,000 and continues to grow. Even the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner, Michael Taylor, recently said: “We simply do not have the information to vouch for the safety of many of these chemicals… we do have questions about whether we can do what people expect of us”. - Washington Post

Additional resource: “Food additives on the rise as FDA scrutiny wanes” - Washington Post

Well, maybe that isn't as scary as it sounds, because apparently new food ingredients are commonly approved by the manufacturer themselves, and not by the FDA. So, that's helpful, right?  [What the ???]

So, what does this mean to you?

Why should you care?

Here are a few reasons:- hyperactive children- asthma- diabetes- cancer- eczema- digestive disease- premature aging- obesity- lethargy…are all on the rise. Like, WAY. ON. THE. RISE. And, according to some experts, 70% of the average American diet now comes from processed food. 

Interestingly, a research review of 172 clinical studies published in the Journal of American Clinical Nutrition concluded that "virtually all chronic diseases are partially caused by our modern diet of engineered foods."

Related? You decide.

And isn't that the point?

Do you have to like the Food Babe? Nope. Do you maybe want to listen to the information that she’s making public, then decide for yourself whether you opt in or out of the chemical s&^% storm that makes up the majority of processed foods?

Uh, yeah. Please do. And, if you’re not a little riled up after hearing this episode, then you weren’t listening.

All of the resources mentioned in today's show can be found at www.OnAirwithElla.com

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