Food Babe: Holding Corporations Accountable
Vani Hari a/k/a The Food Babe is a force to be reckoned with! She and her “Food Babe Army” are taking on the big food corporations!
Vani started her blog Foodbabe.com in April 2011 after dealing with several illnesses as a child which eventually landed her in a hospital with appendicitis. After this experience, she vowed to start eating healthy and to live a healthy lifestyle. She was encouraged by her friends and family to create a blog about what she was learning and eating. She did not expect what happened next.
She gained National attention after she started a petition to Kraft Foods to remove its dyes from their macaroni and cheese that went viral. Kraft eventually took their dyes, Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6 (which have been linked to hyperactivity and allergies in children) out of some their products that are marketed to children.
Food Babe is a veracious investigator and holds corporations and restaurants accountable for what they are selling to the American public. Some of those corporations include, Whole Foods, Subway, Lean Cuisine, McDonalds, General Mills, Coca-Cola, Chipotle, Yoforia and Moe’s Southwest Grill. Vani has been profiled in the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Times and Chicago Tribune. This year, Food Babe was voted by a survey done on Dr. Oz as the healthiest Facebook page.
I spoke with Vani today about her life and how it has changed since she made the decision to quit corporate America and follow her passion. She candidly talks about her aspirations and plans for the future.
Vani also gave us an update on her dealings with Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors. Vani started a petition to get them to list their beer ingredients on their websites. She is currently working with GMO Inside on petitioning Starbucks to start serving organic, GMO-free milk. She shared with us her concerns about some of the ingredients that Starbucks uses in their Frappuccinos, including a caramel coloring that is a known carcinogen.
Just today, Vani sent out a post from her blog about Campbell’s product, V-8 , and their claim that it is 100% vegetarian. When questioned by a vegan blogger about this on Twitter, Campbell’s confirmed that their “natural flavoring” could possibly contain animal products and that they do not make any vegan products! She will continue to investigate this ongoing story and keep us updated.
Food Babe will be speaking at The National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa in mid September, along with many other food activists and excellent presenters. I will be speaking at this event too. To find out more about this event, go to www.theheirloomexpo.com
To listen to this informative and inspirational interview with Vani Hari, click on the link below:
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hello my name william ranger.for years i have been dealing with low blood sugar episodes.i have to eat at the same times every day otherwise i get these mood changes.ive had my blood tested i have talked to nurses and different people and know one can help me.
William, have you changed your diet and do you eat an organic diet and non-GMO?
From what I have seen on Facebook, Campbell’s responded to her assertion that V8 and their tomato soup could contain animal products hidden under the banner of “natural flavoring”. According to a Tweet from @CampbellCares at 12:26 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2014, they said “V8 100% Veg Juice & Tomato Soup are both vegetarian. No animal products are used. Sorry for any confusion.”
Whether CampbellCares is a true Twitter account of the company that produces V8 and Campbell’s soups or if the screen capture I saw of it on Facebook is a forgery, I don’t know. So what I did was go to the Campbell’s website and engaged them in a chat session in which the operator had me wait for a couple of minutes while she checked her facts. She said that there are no meat, seafood, poultry, or dairy and that the flavorings are from citrus and herbs.
So, in a word, V8 and Campbell’s Tomato Soup (the only two products I asked Campbell’s about) are suitable for vegetarians.
Here’s the update on the Campbell soup scandal 🙂 – http://foodbabe.com/2014/08/07/update-does-campbells-soup-not-know-whats-in-its-own-products/
Thanks HoaiPhai for that update!
I come across here. I am envious of the freedom to let those unhealthy ingredients out. In China, the media can be bought off not to publish the unfavorable info about the companies.
I am a HUGE fan of Food Integrity Now!!! Carol you have helped change my life ! You are an inspiration to me !
Thank you,
Kerri Gittings 🙂
Love you Vani and your team!
What about cooking ourselves at home and share a healthy meal with our family? At least, you would know what is in your food! I swear, cooking can be easy and simple.
I grew up in France and my mom taught me to cook from scratch every day. It takes no more that 30 minutes. You should try, Good luck to you! 🙂
Thank you so much for your efforts to make our food safer and to force companies to reveal all the ingredients they use. “Flavoring” or “natural flavoring” does not inform the consumer just what these consist of and therein lies the cover-up. Keep up all your good work and may God continue to bless you.
Willia: Haae you eaer considered a whole food, plant based diet? For many years I suffered with low blood sugar and had to keep snacks nearby to “fix” the issue. Once I began eating the whole food, plant based diet way, I have raaly experienced LBS. On documentary I would recommend is Forks Over Knives with Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Also several other docs to look at are Dr. MacDougall, Dr. Ornish, Dr. Neal Barnard to name some. I eat no meat, poultry, pork, seafood, dairy, refined or processed food. I supplement with vitamin B-12 and vitamin D and belong to a support group of lie minded folks in my local area. Check it out. I was amazed at how good I feel.
If you get a chance, read The China Study. It is an eye opener
I agree with the above poster on a WFPB diet to help your low blood sugar. You can eat organic all you want, but if it is not based on plants and the right fats such as seeds and nuts it is not going to help. The Dx’s and forks over knives is a great documentary to watch and another Dx that I follow 90% of the time is Dr. Furhman, who is responsible for creating the ANDI scores for Whole Foods. Good luck!
It is vital to educate people on our poor quality food supply! However we must also stop out sourcing the way we feed ourselves and our families. Get out the pots and pans, add in some real food, local is always better, organic is best. Cooked in our own kitchens, with our families around the table at meal times. Stop the processed food madness that has taken over North America. Back to real food!
I totally agree with you!
vani. many thanks for your great fight for a better lifestyle, you are the best!!!!!!!!!