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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. 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. She has been criticised by scientists and others for promoting pseudoscientific claims and beliefs in her work.

Career

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hari first attended the University of Georgia before switching to University of North Carolina at Charlotte. After graduating in 2001 with a degree in computer science, Hari worked as a management consultant for Accenture. She started the Food Babe blog in 2011. A book, The Food Babe Way, is scheduled to be released in February 2015.

Activism

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 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.

2012 Democratic National Convention

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. According to Hari, President Barack Obama broke a promise that he made during his 2008 presidential campaign to label genetically modified food.

Subway

In February 2014, Hari launched a petition on Change.org against Subway to remove azodicarbonamide (a flour bleaching agent and dough conditioner) from their sandwich bread. The petition gathered more than 50,000 signatures in 24 hours. Subway, the world's largest sandwich chain, quickly responded by announcing a plan to remove the chemical from all of their sandwich breads.

NPR performed a follow up story about Hari's petition to Subway in which several food science experts asserted that azodicarbonamide use in bread is reasonable and claims about its health risks are inaccurate.

Kraft Foods

In March 2014 Hari posted another petition on Change.org demanding that Kraft Foods 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. 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. Hari claimed credit for the changes.

Beer

In June 2014, Hari posted a petition to pressure major brewers to list the ingredients in their products, something which US brewers are not required to do. The next day, Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors released ingredients in many of their products. The trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights called Hari's petition an "attempt of fear mongering in the name of advocacy" and David Gorski, a surgeon who often speaks out against quackery, stated that the beer companies had "fallen victim to the latest quack making a name for herself on the Internet by peddling pseudoscience."

Criticism

Hari has been criticized by some scientists. Following her Subway petition, Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist from the New England Skeptical Society, criticized the petition by Hari, describing the campaign as "unscientific" and a case of "food-based fear mongering." 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." He describes as safe several chemicals that Hari regards as dangerous, such as calcium carbonate, sodium hydrogen sulphate, and azodicarbonamide.

Hari argued in a July 2012 post against the use of microwave ovens, because they cause water molecules to form crystals that resemble crystals that have been exposed to "negative thoughts or beliefs," including the names of Hitler and Satan – an idea she borrowed from Masaru Emoto. 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."

References

1. Sheridan, Ann (August 29, 2012). "Food blogger hopes to get Obama's attention". NBC News.
2. Little, Katie (February 7, 2014). "That Chemical Subway Ditched? McDonald's, Wendy's Use it Too". NBCNews.com. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
3. ^ Strom, Stephanie (December 30, 2013). "Social Media As A Megaphone To Pressure The Food Industry". The New York Times.
4. ^ Horowitz, Bruce (February 10, 2014). "Subway to remove chemical from bread". USA Today.
5. ^ Purvis, Kathleen (September 8, 2014). "Charlotte's Food Babe has lots of fans – and some critics". Charlotte Observer.
6. Stafford, Duane (September 17, 2014). "Food Babe's attacks draw 'quackmail' backlash". Chicago Tribune.
7. ^ Godoy, Maria (December 4, 2014). "Is The Food Babe A Fearmonger? Scientists Are Speaking Out : The Salt : NPR". NPR. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
8. Hari, Vani. "Join Me! Investigate Your Food: About Vani Hari". Food Babe. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
9. ^ Somers, Meredith (September 5, 2012). "Delegate's front-row seat a bully pulpit on what we eat". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C.: Unification Church. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
10. Bryan, David Perlmutt Florence; Mayhew, Justin (September 4, 2012). "Fried chicken, political buttons and a little darkness: Delegates find it all". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina: The McClatchy Company. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
11. Dougherty, Elizabeth (September 18, 2012). "DNC Delegate Stands Up To Obama And USDA At Convention". News Talk Florida. Largo, Florida: Genesis Communications Network. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
12. FDA Frequently Asked Questions on Azodicarbonamide (ADA) Page Last Updated: 20 June, 2014
13. Donaldson James, Susan (February 5, 2014). "Subway Takes Chemical Out of Sandwich Bread After Protest". ABC News.
14. Miller, Tracy (February 6, 2014). "Subway will remove additive found in plastics from its bread after blogger's online petition". New York Daily News. New York City. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
15. Cornish, Audi (March 6, 2014). "Almost 500 Foods Contain The 'Yoga Mat' Compound. Should We Care?". National Public Radio. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
16. Cornish, Audi (March 6, 2014). "Almost 500 Foods Contain The 'Yoga Mat' Compound. Should We Care? (Audio Transcript)". National Public Radio. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
17. ^ Staff writer (October 31, 2013). "Kraft to remove artificial dyes from three macaroni and cheese varieties". The Guardian. New York City. Associated Press. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
18. Pisani, Joseph (June 12, 2014). "Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors Post Beer Ingredients". Associated Press.
19. ^ Sacks, Brianna (June 13, 2014). "Pressed by blogger, Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors post beer ingredients". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
20. "Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors list ingredients in key brands". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Associated Press. June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
21. Szabo, Lisa (June 18, 2013). "How to guard against a quack". USA Today. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
22. Gorski, David (June 16, 2014). "Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe): The Jenny McCarthy of food". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
23. Novella, Steven (February 28, 2014). "More Yoga Mat Hysteria". Neurologica. NeuroLogicaBlog. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
24. White, Nancy J. (June 14, 2014). "Why Big Food fears the 'Food Babe'". The Toronto Star.
25. Schwarcz, Joseph A. (April 26, 2014). "The Food Babe is anything but an expert on food matters". The Gazette. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
26. Crislip, Mark (October 18, 2013). "Scam Stud". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
27. Novella, Steven (April 30, 2014). "Microwaves and Nutrition". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved September 1, 2014.

External links

• Official website

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• 1980 births
• American bloggers
• American activists
• American food writers
• Living people
• Women bloggers
• Women food writers