Vani Hari, Eva Mendes, and the Erosion of Expertise

If you're not perpetually online in the health space, you may have missed a scuff-up between several science communicators and followers of Vani Hari, aka The Food Babe. It began simply enough: Vani Hari launched a war against Kellogg's cereal, and Eva Mendes wrote a seemingly innocuous post of gratitude about it to her millions of followers that quickly devolved into the general ugliness comments sections are famous for ad hominem attacks, threats, etc. Science communicators came to fight the spread of misinformation and were deluged with attacks and threats. The media then covered it irresponsibly. It's a tale that's becoming all too familiar.

Vani Hari--The Food Babe

The Food Babe (TFB) is no stranger to ACSH. She's made a name for herself as a crusader for “chemical-free” food and food free from “toxins.” It bears repeating that she has no training or education to operate in this space. She is not a registered dietitian, chemist, or researcher; she's a self-appointed activist and vigilante, willing to turn her followers on any company, product, or person she sees fit. 

TFB has amassed a lot of influence and power despite having no relevant credentials or training. She's testified in front of the Senate. She's impacted the business practices of companies like Subway, Chick-fil-A, and Kraft do business. And, of course, she's linked with the Make America Healthy Again movement, fronted by Robert F Kennedy Jr. 

Recently, TFB has turned her spotlight onto Kellogg's cereal. This time, the offending ingredient is artificial food dyes. She's gotten other influencers onboard, such as Josh Axe and Calley Means. This has caused quite the uproar with protests outside of Kellogg's and, as usual, plenty of online arguments. 

Eva Mendes

On October 8, Eva Mendes shared a post to her Instagram account with the following caption:

“I grew up on cereal. I still love it but I won't eat @kelloggsus anymore after I found out that so many of the ingredients they use here in the US are BANNED in other countries. Why? Because they're harmful for children. 

Gracias to @thefoodbabe for helping to bring this to light and demand that Kellogg remove these harmful artificial food dyes for us -just like they do in other countries.” 

Mendes has 6.6 million Instagram followers, so this post did not go unnoticed. Likes and comments began appearing immediately. Given the attention the post received, science communicators Andrea Love and Danielle Shine, in particular, noticed. Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist; Danielle Shine is a registered dietitian and nutrition misinformation researcher. Both women have a record of addressing health misinformation through their social media profiles. 

“Hi @eva mendes, unfortunately, you've been misled. The “food babe” is not a qualified food or nutrition professional. She lacks crucial food, nutrition, health, & science knowledge--without this foundation, everything can appear as a threat to health, which simply isn't true.

For years, she has spread nutrition misinformation, and pseudoscience, fueling unnecessary food noise, fear, and anxiety. As a registered dietitian, I work with clients in eating disorder recovery who have been negatively impacted by her content.

I urge you to consider sharing this post, there’s still time to remove it. It contains misinformation and amplifies someone whose messages undermine public health.

I also encourage you to consult actual, qualified subject matter experts (one example being @foodsciencebabe) to ensure you're getting accurate information based on robust evidence, rather than the half-baked ideas and misinformed opinions of an intellectually lazy food blogger.” –Danielle Shine

 

“Hi @eva mendes - these ingredients aren't banned whatsoever, and they have all been deemed safe across the planet - I even summarized the daily intake levels for Europe and US - and other countries. This is a really harmful message you're spreading that undermines our food experts and food security for many people. Food Babe is not a credible source of information on these topics at all - she makes millions of dollars creating fear that is based on nothing - and sells supplements and products as her “alternatives” - please consider seeking actual experts if you want to discuss these topics.” – Dr. Andrea Love

Of course, neither Shine nor Love expected these comments to end the conversation, and a pile-on of TFB followers ensued. The comments and direct messages got ugly:
 

• “GOD WILL JUDGE YOU FOR SELLING YOUR SOUL TO GREED AND SPREADING SICKNESS BY THE GOVERNMENT”
• “You sound like a paid influencer dietitian. Let's be honest you can't be that good when you're telling people eating chemicals is ok.”
• “Seriously sit down and quit trying to cause cancer in other parents’ children intentionally!”
• “There's a special place in hell for people like you.”
• “You are a shill for Monsanto.”
• “Choke on your toxic cereal b*tch.”

For people active in any comments section, dismissing this as just another day on the internet may be easy. However, this harassment was made worse by conspiracy theory videos made by a self-identified “independent journalist,” explicitly targeting Love and with direct mentions of Shine. Mendes reshared one of those videos and renewed the vitriol towards Shine and Love.

“Eva Mendes says she won't eat Kellogg's cereal, demands brand to ‘remove artificial food dyes.’” - Salon

Salon’s article informs the reader of the actions of a prominent celebrity, celebrity gossip. It tells people about the goings-on on Eva Mendes's Instagram. They discuss the caption and choose to highlight some of the comments, specifically from Will Cole and Andrea Love. Why, you might ask, did they choose to highlight these particular comments? The answer seems to be to demonstrate the two sides of the issue. 

“Many agreed with Mendes's stance, while others claimed that artificial dyes have been deemed safe for consumption. “Yes, thank you so much for giving a voice to this topic,” commented functional medicine expert Dr. Will Cole. On the contrary, biomedical scientist Dr. Andrea Love told Mendes, “This is a really harmful message you're spreading that undermines our food experts and food security for many people…please consider seeking actual experts if you want to discuss these topics.”

However, Salon's coverage demonstrates the ever-present false equivalency (i.e., Will Cole is not qualified to speak on this subject) and both side-ism that is often present in these kinds of articles. It seems like a celebrity fluff piece about a silly online disagreement. However, it perfectly encapsulates the problems when celebrities amplify people, products, and companies. The coverage should not be dismissed as meaningless. 

Unfortunately, Salon’s coverage is not unique and contributes to the erosion of trust in expertise. It leads people to believe the false prophets of expertise such as Hari (i.e., just because you claim to know about a topic doesn't mean you do) and puts them on equal footing with people with real expertise. If reporters will not do the work to determine if Will Cole has relevant credentials and can be treated similarly to Andrea Love, why would anyone else?

This episode also demonstrates how good scientists and science communicators are forced offline while the conversation they need to be a part of continues without them. The vitriol and threats are enough to make anyone throw their hands up and declare, “I give up!”   

The general consensus seems to be that being online is a bad experience. People are rude on good days and vicious and threatening on others. Yet, that's where we all get our information. With the amplification of wellness woo, pretend expertise, and outrage, paired with threats and the continued spread of misinformation through irresponsible coverage, it's no wonder experts are dropping out of the online conversation. If this is the reward, there is little incentive to continue fighting the uphill battle to communicate about the work that scientists and researchers do. However, without experts sharing their expertise, it is all a shot in the dark. We all suffer when the experts stop talking.