From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vani Hari | |
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Vani Hari in a 2012 interview with the Charlotte Video Project
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| Born | March 22, 1980 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Residence | Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Charlotte [1] |
| Known for | Food blogger, food activist |
| Website | |
| www |
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Vani Hari, also known on her blog as the Food Babe, is an American author and activist known for her criticism of the food industry. Hari claims companies including Kraft, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks,[2] and Subway have changed or reconsidered ingredients in their products as a result of her campaigns.[3][4] She has been criticised by scientists and others for promoting pseudoscientific claims and beliefs in her work[5][6] which, critics note, supports a commercial interest as well.[7]
Career
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hari first attended the University of Georgia before transferring to University of North Carolina at Charlotte. After graduating in 2001 with a degree in computer science, she worked as a management consultant for Accenture.[5] She started the Food Babe blog in 2011.[8] Her first book, The Food Babe Way, was released on February 10th, 2015.In 2011, Hari wrote a piece about ingredients in Chick-fil-A sandwiches which she alleged to be harmful. Chick-fil-A responded to Hari's post in May 2012, inviting her to its headquarters in Atlanta to discuss her concerns. As part of a larger effort to improve the nutrition of their products, Chick-fil-A announced in late 2013 it was removing dyes, artificial corn syrup, and TBHQ from their products. They also announced a plan to only use antibiotic-free chickens within the next five years.[3]
During the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which she attended as an elected delegate, Hari sat in the first row on the convention floor and held a sign that read "Label GMOs!" during Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's speech.[9][10][11] Hari said President Barack Obama broke a promise that he made during his 2008 presidential campaign to label genetically modified food.[9]
In February 2014, Hari launched a petition on Change.org asking Subway to remove azodicarbonamide (a flour bleaching agent and dough conditioner[12]) from their sandwich bread. The petition gathered more than 50,000 signatures in 24 hours.[13] Subway responded by announcing a plan to remove the chemical from all of their sandwich breads.[4][14]
NPR performed a follow up story about Hari's petition to Subway in which several food science experts said that azodicarbonamide use in bread is reasonable and claims about its health risks are false.[15][16]
In March 2014 Hari posted another petition on Change.org asking Kraft Foods to remove FD&C yellow #5 and FD&C yellow #6 food dyes from their Mac & Cheese; by the end of October of that year the petition had received about 348,000 signatures.[17] In October, Kraft changed the ingredients in three of its Mac & Cheese products aimed at children, which included the use of whole grains, reduction in salt and some fats, and changing the coloring; Kraft said that the changes were not a response to the petition but rather were part of an ongoing effort to improve the nutrition of the offerings, which takes several years to plan and implement.[3][17] Hari claimed credit for the changes.[17]
In June 2014, Hari posted a petition asking major brewers to list the ingredients in their products,[18] something which US brewers are not required to do.[19] The next day, Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors released ingredients in many of their products.[20] The trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights called Hari's petition an “attempt of fear mongering in the name of advocacy.”[19]
Criticism
Hari has been repeatedly condemned by nutritionists, doctors, chemists and other food-related professionals for adopting an unscientific, scare-mongering approach. Following Hari's Subway petition, Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist from the New England Skeptical Society, described the campaign as "unscientific" and a case of "food-based fear mongering."[21] Dr. Joseph A. Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office of Science and Society and a chemistry professor, states Hari "has no understanding of chemistry or food science."[22] He describes several chemicals that Hari criticizes, such as calcium carbonate, sodium hydrogen sulphate, and azodicarbonamide as being safe.[23]Following her beer campaign, David Gorski, a surgeon, stated that she was “peddling pseudoscience” by portraying the chemicals used in the making of beer as dangerous.[24][6]
In an October 2011 blog post, Hari questioned the efficacy of flu shots.[25][26] However, influenza vaccines are recommended by health authorities worldwide, especially for people with weakened immune systems, such as children, older people, and people with chronic illnesses.[27][28][29]
In a July 2012 post (since removed), Hari quoted the ideas of Masaru Emoto, namely that microwave ovens cause water molecules to form crystals that resemble crystals exposed to negative thoughts or beliefs, such as when the words Hitler and Satan were exposed to the water.[30] Dr. Novella calls Emoto's claims "pure pseudoscience" and states that "Hari's conclusions about microwaves are all demonstrably incorrect and at odds with the scientific evidence."[31] Hari has repeatedly avoided giving any scientific evidence for her claims.
Critics state that Hari lacks credentials in nutrition or food science (she is a former consultant who studied computer science) and that lack of training often leads her to misinterpret peer-reviewed research and technical details about food chemistry, nutrition and health.[7][6]
