There’s blood in the water….and the sharks are circling. Myself included. Finally the scientific community is waking up to the outrageous nonsense upon which Vani Hari, the “Food Babe,” has built an empire. The critical articles, prompted to a large extent by SciBabe‘s (Yvette d’Entremont) excellent piece in the “Gawker” which has so far had an amazing 4.5 million views, are now flooding newspapers, magazines and the Internet. Today I was having a conversation about the mansion that ignorance built, and I mentioned to a friend that I bet I could open Ms. Hari’s book at any page and find some absurdity. I was challenged to prove it.
So I asked him to open the book at any page. He did. Page 149. I struck gold with the second paragraph. “Did you know that Wendy’s chili contains silicon dioxide (found in sand) or that McDonald’s apple pie contains L-cysteine (derived from poultry feathers)? Are you aware that Jack in the Box puts cellulose (the same ingredient that is in sawdust) in many of its cheeses, sauces and shakes? Or that Wendy’s puts dimethylpolysiloxane (used in Silly Putty) in its Natural-Cut fries?”
Wow. What a treasure trove of nonsense in such few words. Silicon dioxide is commonly added to chili powder in tiny amounts as an anti-caking agent. It is commonly added to salt as well. There isn’t even a hint of toxicity here. You could eat sand by the spoonful. It would not be a gourmet meal but it would not wreak havoc with your health. L-cysteine is an amino acid that we consume routinely every time we eat protein. In the pie, it improves the texture of the dough. The fact that it may be derived from feathers is irrelevant. Any protein can be broken down into its amino acid components,
Once L-cysteine is purified, whether it came from feathers, hair, nail clippings or unicorn horn is immaterial. As far as cellulose goes, well we eat it every time we eat fruits or vegetables. It is a building block of all plant matter and is a component of dietary fiber. Fiber absorbs water, which adds bulk to stool and helps prevent constipation. With her vegetable laden diet, Ms. Hari consumes plenty of cellulose. Unfortunately it doesn’t prevent mental constipation.
Then there is the Silly Putty silliness. Dimethylpolysiloxane is added in tiny amounts to the frying oil to prevent foaming. It is so non-toxic that it is used in far greater doses as a medicine to prevent excessive flatulation. The fact that it is also in Silly Putty is neither here nor there. We don’t shy away from eating starch just because it can be used to lubricate condoms or make glue. Silly Putty is a great toy, and is totally safe. It has to be. Children have been known to make a meal of it. Amazingly, in spite of much effort, nobody has found a really practical use for Silly Putty. Until now. Maybe it can be used to stop the tsunami of nonsense that gushes from scientifically illiterate mouths.
