“The Natural Society” Fails At Biology, Math

The Natural Society lambastes cellulose as cheap filler that can’t be digested. Perhaps that’s why they use it in their diet foods? (click/enlarge)

Hypocrisy, thy name is The Natural Society.

In the short time I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve caught some of the bigger names in woo in embarrassing acts, such as food/product safety “expert” The Food Babe selling pesticides and coal tar dyes to children.  But small-time player “The Natural Society”, with their “Slimfy Nature and Science” diet foods, takes the cake.  You just can’t get any more obvious than this:

“Fifteen Companies Whose Products Contain Wood Pulp”,¹ penned by Natural Society co-founder Anthony Gucciardi, counts fifteen companies who use an ingredient that, according to Gucciardi, is “wood pulp”:  a useless filler that can’t be digested by humans.  Gucciardi’s shaky biology aside (cellulose is an important biological component found in plant cell walls), it’s obvious the man has trouble counting.  He missed the sixteenth company selling cellulose in its food products: his own.

Yes, like most pseudoscience sites, The Natural Society has an online store.  How better to market alternatives to the products they’re demonizing?  One of the offerings from these snake oil salesmen is “Slimfy”, a diet supplement.  Anyone care to guess what’s found in each and every bottle of Slimfy?  If you said “cellulose”, you’re correct.  Extra credit to those who answered “microcrystalline cellulose.”

What does Gucciardi himself say about the cellulose in his products?

“Cellulose can be found in products under ingredient listings such as cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, and more.” ¹ (emphasis mine)

Yes, yes. We saw the Natural Society play the name game on its own labeling. Your point is, Mr. Gucciardi?

What many do not realize, however, is that cellulose is actually wood pulp. Unable to be digested by humans due to the lack of necessary enzymes needed to break the ingredient down, cellulose has been deemed ‘safe for consumption’ by the FDA.” ¹

Ah… imply cellulose isn’t safe to eat by putting “safe for consumption” in quotes… clever!  So why are you selling it as an edible product then, Anthony? (May I call you Anthony?)

But what you really have to applaud is the cajones of a company that takes an ingredient they claim can’t be digested by humans, places it in a bottle, and sells it as a diet aid–for $37.50 per jar of 60 capsules ($225 for a buy 3, get 3 free deal)!

Well, that’s one way to lose weight.  Aye, carumba!

 

Image Credits
The Natural Society and Slimfy product snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

References
(1) Fifteen Companies Whose Products Contain Wood Pulp Cellulose
http://naturalsociety.com/15-companies-whose-products-contain-wood-pulp-cellulose/

Hyman’s Sugary Hypocrisy

Mark Hyman’s “Ten Rules To Eat Safely For Life And What To Remove From Your Kitchen”¹ has been an absolute gold mine of debunking material.  Never have I found so much hypocrisy in one article.  Nearly every paragraph Hyman writes demonizes an ingredient that he then pushes in his online store.

We’ve already looked at Hyman simultaneously vilifying and selling xylitol and miracle-cure foods in his “ten rules” article.  But he’s not done yet.  Not by a long shot.  Tell us how you feel about sugar derived from cane, Dr. Hyman:

“If sugar (by any name, including organic cane juice, honey, agave, maple syrup, cane syrup, or molasses) is on the label, throw it out.” ¹  (emphasis mine)

(Sigh).  Off we go to Mark Hyman’s online store.  How about a tasty nutritional shake?²

I can hear the skeptics in the crowd shouting, “show me the ingredients!”  I’d be happy to:²

Organic cane sugar.

Organic. Cane. Sugar.

But… but… Hyman wrote:

“If sugar (by any name, including organic cane juice, honey, agave, maple syrup, cane syrup, or molasses) is on the label, throw it out.” ¹

 

[Drops microphone.  Leaves stage.]

Image Credits
Mark Hyman and Pure Lean Powder product snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

Microphone by Chris Engelsma, from Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Artist does not necessarily endorse or agree with the viewpoints expressed in this article.

References
(1) Ten Rules To Eat Safely For Life And What To Remove From Your Kitchen
http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/02/02/10-rules-to-eat-safely-for-life-and-what-to-remove-from-your-kitchen/

(2) Dr. Mark Hyman’s Pure Lean Powder: Chocolate
http://store.drhyman.com/Store/Show/Nutritional-Shakes/739/Pure-Lean-Powder%2c-chocolate

Xylitol, Warrior Princess: Mark Hyman Debunked

I’ve always wanted to include Lucy Lawless in one of my articles. “Xenatol” sounded like “Xylitol”. Yeah. It’s pretty bad word play. Sorry. Hey, how much did you have to pay to read this stuff? 😉

I thought my debunking of Dr. Mark Hyman’s “10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life)“¹ would be a one off job, but the deeper I read, the more nonsense I found.  There’s enough material there for a half dozen articles, and Hyman commits some real howlers.  If there was ever evidence that these snake oil salesmen don’t actually read the labels of the overpriced products they’re selling, Hyman’s “Endefen” supplements is it.

I’d like to start with this pearl of wisdom from Dr. Hyman:

“Throw out food with artificial sweeteners of all kinds  (aspartame, Splenda, sucralose, and sugar alcohols—any word that ends with “ol” like xylitol, sorbitol). They make you hungrier, slow your metabolism, give you bad gas, and make you store belly fat.”–Mark Hyman on artificial sweeteners ¹  (emphasis mine)

So Dr. Hyman claims that the sweetener xylitol will make us hungrier, slow our metabolisms, cause us to “tootle melodiously through our sphincters” (I’m embarrassed by the word “fart”), and store belly fat?

My grandfather had an old saying from which Hyman would benefit: “a closed mouth gathers no feet.”

Here’s an interesting product sold in the Hyman store: “Endefen”: ²

Mark Hyman’s Endefen product. Wonder what’s inside?  (click/enlarge)

 

The full ingredients list is available at this link,² but let’s zoom in on that suspicious-looking additive trying to hide behind sunglasses and false wig.  You!  I say!  You there sir!  You with the red circle around you!  Can you stand up and identify yourself please?

Bless his heart! Dr. Hyman is selling xylitol, the very additive he says to avoid!

Why it’s Xylitol!  Hyman is selling the very sweetener he says to avoid!^1,2  To add the icing on the cake (no sugar pun intended), once you’ve finished all twenty-eight servings of Endefen, you will have consumed 26.6 grams of xylitol. Just under seven percent of the entire 420 gram bottle is xylitol by weight.

And oh, dear friends… I wish we could drop this and move on.  But did you notice the “Mannose” above the “Xylitol” in the Hyman’s Endefen?  Shouldn’t someone with a medical degree know that mannose a sugar monomer, especially if he’s going to preach about sweeteners as if they’re bringing on Armageddon?

“If sugar (by any name, including organic cane juice, honey, agave, maple syrup, cane syrup, or molasses) is on the label, throw it out.”–Mark Mark Hyman

Add in the mannose and Dr. Hyman’s product is now 8% sugar by weight.

Golly Gee.  Should we tell somebody about this?  Dr. Hyman?  Are you there sir?  Hello?

Nobody seems to be picking up…  hello?  Dr. Mark Hyman!  Paging Dr. Hyman…

 

I *love* PubChem. The naming section for compounds is particularly helpful in trying to determine if Hyman’s “D-Xylitol” is xylitol.  Chemists say it is.

 

Image Credits
Mark Hyman, Endefen, and PubChem snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

Xena Warrior Princess meme by the author, used under parody provisions of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

References
(1) 10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life (and What to Remove from Your Kitchen)
http://drhyman.com/blog/2012/02/02/10-rules-to-eat-safely-for-life-and-what-to-remove-from-your-kitchen/

(2) Endefen Supplement on Dr. Mark Hyman’s Online Store
http://store.drhyman.com/Store/Show/Healthy-Fiber/449/Endefen

(3) PubChem Compound Summary for CID 6912: Xylitol
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/xylitol#section=Top

Ena Valikov’s Monsanto Fact Checking Leaves Much To Be Desired

California veterinarian Ena Valikov is an outspoken anti-GMO crusader.  If you’ve ever clashed with her on social media before (I have), it’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

Valikov often commits the argument from authority logical fallacy, falsely implying she’s a medical doctor while doling out her opinions on GMOs and vaccines. A common reply to any factual challenge to Valikov’s claims is “post your medical degree or shut up”:

Typical Valikov debating technique (spelling error hers)

Veterinarians undergo rigorous training and often display excellent scientific literacy.  I hope that my attacking Valikov’s howling errors in this blog will not be taken as a slur against vets in general.  I have the highest respect for what this group of professionals does.  What sticks in my craw is a member of that profession misrepresenting her expertise, making unscientific statements under the guise of a medical doctor, and trying to shut down discussion via the argument from authority fallacy.  This is particularly dangerous when she commits a sin common to the anti-GMO unwashed: not checking their sources.

Your honor, I’d like to submit the following Valikov Facebook post into evidence:¹

Always check your sources. (click/enlarge)

I’m almost embarrassed for Ena.  Rule #1 for sharing anything on the internet: check the source:

World News Daily Report is a well known fake news/satire web site.  They tell you so themselves:^2,3,4

“All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.” ¹–World News Daily Report

 

For your entertainment pleasure (and in case there’s any doubt about Valikov’s research skills), recent WNDR headlines include:

• Flock of Man-Eating Butterflies Kills Dozens in Malaysia
• Star Wars Episode VII: Disney to Cut All “Sexually Implicit” Scenes Between Chewbacca and C3P0
• “I fell pregnant during an alien abduction” claims Michigan woman
• Woman Falls Pregnant After Cavity Search, Blames ‘Dirty Gloves’
• Dead cow brought back to life by lightning bolt

Given the wonderful imagination of J.J. Abrams, I have to I was a little disappointed to realize #2 was fiction.

The danger is that someone like Valikov is misrepresenting her expertise and making ridiculous claims about GMOs–and an unsuspecting bystander might believe her.

Witnesseth a comment on Ena’s Monsanto post:

And there you go.  Another anti-Monsanto zombie is now wandering the streets, warning his friends about genetically modified bees.  Because a “doctor” told him so.

And, Ms. Valikov, before you get your panties in a wad, let me head you off at the pass and warn you that the following WNDR story on Monsanto is a fake:

Before you start protesting Ena, it’s a fake story…

 

Edit History
(23 Nov 2015)  A kind reader pointed out that the original version of this story could be seen as an attack on the training and scientific literacy of veterinarians.  Upon re-reading it, I agree.  My intent was to comment solely on Ms. Valikov’s misrepresentation of herself as a human medical doctor and her well-known propensity to demand anyone debating her either post a medical degree or “shut up”.  I’ve reworded the relevant section and offer an apology to any vets who may have been offended.

Image Credits
Ena Valikov and World News Daily Report screen snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

References
(1) Ena Valikov on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ena.valikov?fref=ts

(3) World News Daily Report Disclaimer
http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/disclaimer/

(3) Nine Worst Fake News Sites
http://factually.gizmodo.com/the-9-worst-fake-news-sites-1681729157

(4) Guide to Fake News Sites
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/Fake-News/tp/A-Guide-to-Fake-News-Websites.01.htm

Dr. Mark Hyman Wants You To Throw Out His Own Food Products

Dr. Mark Hyman’s literary masterpiece “10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life (and What to Remove From Your Kitchen)”¹ contains this bit of sage advice:

“If a food has a label it should have fewer than five ingredients. If it has more than five ingredients, throw it out.”¹

Really? More than five ingredients qualifies the product for a trip to the waste basket?  Obviously when the good doctor wrote these lines, he wasn’t paying attention to what was on the shelves of his own online store–or hoping his followers would be too blind to notice.  Dr. Hyman, have you ever heard of “GlycemX360 Chocolate Shake Mix”?  I hope so, because you sell it:

(drum roll please…) Let’s bring up the ingredient list.²

Dr. Hyman’s chocolate shake contains over 45 ingredients. (click/enlarge)

 

Over 45 ingredients!  So by Hyman’s own \logic, you should thrown this product out (assuming you wasted money on it in the first place).  But wait!  There’s more!  Again from the doctor:

“Also beware of food with health claims on the label” ¹

Well doctor, let’s look at your labeling:

“Also beware of food with health claims on the label” says Hyman. Pot. Kettle. Black.

An “advanced medical food” with more (unsubstantiated) health claims than I can shake a stick at.

The cynical side of me feels that if people are so easily deceived by snake oil salesmen like Mark Hyman, they deserve what’s coming to them.  The compassionate side overcomes that, however.  I truly feel sorry for those wasting hard-earned cash on this nonsense.  The fact that a man with the letters “M.D.” after his name is pushing the pseudoscience makes it all the more offensive.

End rant.

Image Credits
Mark Hyman product screen snapshots are used in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, commonly known as “fair use law”. This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

References
(1) 10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life (and What to Remove From Your Kitchen)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/healthy-eating_b_1250939.html

(2) GlycemX360 Chocolate Shake on Dr. Hyman’s Online Store
http://store.drhyman.com/Store/Show/Nutritional-Shakes/774/GlycemX360-Chocolate

Food Babe Selling Spicy Carcinogens

“Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”–Simon & Garfunkel lyrics

 

Woot!  My calendar says it’s Friday, which means it’s time for yet another shopping trip to the FoodBabe.com online store!  These little shopping expeditions have become quite the tradition here at Bad Science Debunked, and  I’m pleased as organic fruit punch to be pumping sales commissions into the pockets of Vani Hari.  Ms. Hari donates a percentage of each and every purchase to help glyphosate-damaged Galapagos Cormorants who, as a result of their Roundup injuries, can no longer fly.  These poor birds must stand in the sun for hours waiting on boats to ferry them from island to island.   Their suffering is heartbreaking. Won’t you come shopping with me and help these flightless wonders?

Glyphosate has deprived Galapagos Cormorants the ability to fly.  As a result, they’re subjected to long waits in the hot sun for shipboard transport to move from island to island.  Vani Hari is trying to fund rehab efforts, and your affiliate dollars can help!  (photo by the author.)

Regular readers will forgive me if I remind newcomers of the rules here:  when shopping on Food Babe’s web site, we are very careful to follow Vani Hari’s own safety criteria.  Reminiscent of a carcinogenic episode of Sesame Street, today’s research is brought to you by the letters I-A-R-C, as in the International Agency for Research on Cancer.  This is Food Babe’s “go to” resource when defaming foods that compete with her own products.  For example, Hari lambastes Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte because it contains an IARC Group 2B carcinogen:

“[..] the chemical 4-Mel, which is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and National Toxicity Program”–Vani Hari, on Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte ¹ (emphasis mine)

… and she swings the ban hammer on the additive carrageenan because it’s also on the IARC Group 2B list:

“The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Research Council of the United States  have both determined that degraded carrageenan is a carcinogen”–Vani Hari, on carrageenan ²  (emphasis mine)

 

For those of you who like pictures, here’s what “4-Mel” looks like on the IARC list:³

OK, enough of the boring science stuff.   Let’s go shopping!  How about some nice spices?  I’ve been in the mood do do some cooking lately.  Thankfully, Vani sells several brands of herbs and spices.  I can salt my bread and help those flightless cormorants at the same time.  But I need some education first… go all “Spice Girl” on me Vani! ⁴

Vani Hari sells Simply Organic and Frontier spices via Amazon.com.   (click/enlarge)

Well there we go!  Simply Organic and Frontier spices are rated safe by Food Babe, so I know I can buy them with confidence–and my purchases pepper her pockets with cash (spice pun intended).

There’s only one thing that bothers me:  According to food scientists, quite a few spices contain a compound known as caffeic acid.^5,21  Why is that important?  Well, let’s look back at that IARC list of “known carcinogens” touted by Vani Hari: ³

Well drop my drawers and call me spanky!  Caffeic acid is a Group 2B carcinogen!  Now, to be fair, not all spices and herbs contain caffeic acid.  Unless we catch Food Babe selling a spice such as marjoram,^5,7 oregano, ^5,8 Ceylan cinnamon,^5,14,15 sage,^5,17,18,19 rosemary^5,9,10,11,12 and/or thyme,^5,13 which we know contain caffeic acid, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Well, here’s a Food Babe spice:

Herbes de Provence blend, sold by Food Babe contains four (!) spices that contain IARC Group 2B carcinogen caffeic acid⁶

Oh dear.   Organic Herbes de Provence contains thyme, rosemary, oregano, and marjoram.⁶  That’s a grand slam of caffeic acid.  Now I’m confused.  Why is Vani Hari telling us to avoid Group 2B carcinogens when they appear in the products she’s selling?

Simply Organic Herbes de Provence spice blend contains a caffeic acid grand slam: thyme, rosemary, oregano, and marjoram.⁶ (click/enlarge)

 

Maybe she just made a mistake with the Simply Organic brand?  Let’s have a look at the other brand she’s shilling for selling: Frontier Organic.¹⁶   Yum.  I love cinnamon… how about you?

Ceylon cinnamon was calculated to contain a mean value of 24.20 mg/100g caffeic acid

Damn my eyes! 24.20mg/100g of caffeic acid in this Food Babe offering.²⁰  Is nothing sacred?

***

Before you rush off and dump your spice collection in the garbage, you should know that caffeic acid has been studied for use as an antioxidant, an anti-inflammatory agent, and myriad other beneficial uses.  Keep in mind that throughout this article, we’ve been looking at these products from a Food Babe perspective. It’s easy to misrepresent science to make safe products look scary.  You can actually make quite a good living doing so–it’s the #FoodBabeWay.

In summary, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy Simply Organic or Frontier spices (if not for their inflated prices)… I just wouldn’t be caught dead buying them from Food Babe.

Image Credits
Food Babe, IARC, Simply Organic, and Frontier Spice screen snapshots are used in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, commonly known as “fair use law”. This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.
Flightless cormorant in the Galapagos, (c) 2015 Mark Aaron Alsip. All rights reserved.

References
(1) Wake Up And Smell The Chemicals
http://foodbabe.com/2014/09/02/drink-starbucks-wake-up-and-smell-the-chemicals/

(2) Major Company Removing Controversial Ingredient Because of You
http://foodbabe.com/2014/08/19/breaking-major-company-removing-controversial-ingredient-carrageenan-because-of-you/

(3) Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs, Volumes 1–111
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ClassificationsAlphaOrder.pdf

(4) Are There Harmful Ingredients Lurking In Your Spice Cabinet?
http://foodbabe.com/2013/12/01/are-there-harmful-ingredients-lurking-in-your-spice-cabinet/#more-15560

(5) Phenol Explorer: Caffeic Acid
http://phenol-explorer.eu/contents/polyphenol/457

(6) Simply Organics Herbes de Provence Ingredients
http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Organic-Herbes-Provence-Ounce/dp/B00AJRKITM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447701170&sr=8-1

(7) Contributing article, Mean caffeic acid content of marjoram dried (1.90 mg/100g)
Proestos C., Komaitis M. (2006) Ultrasonically assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from aromatic plants: Comparison with conventional extraction technics. Journal of Food Quality 29:567-582

(8) Contributing article,Mean caffeic acid content of Italian oregano, fresh (10.40 mg/100g)
Zheng W., Wang S.Y. (2001) Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in selected herbs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 49:5165-5170

(9) Contributing article,Mean caffeic acid content of rosemary (9.67 mg/100g)
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2007 Jun;388(4):881-7. Epub 2007 Apr 28.
Comparison of GC-MS and LC-MS methods for the analysis of antioxidant phenolic acids in herbs.
Kivilompolo M1, Obůrka V, Hyötyläinen T.

(10) Contributing article,Mean caffeic acid content of rosemary (9.67 mg/100g)
Proestos C., Komaitis M. (2006) Ultrasonically assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from aromatic plants: Comparison with conventional extraction technics. Journal of Food Quality 29:567-582

(11) Contributing article, Mean caffeic acid content of rosemary (9.67 mg/100g)
Wang H., Provan G.J., Helliwell K. (2004) Determination of rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid in aromatic herbs by HPLC. Food Chemistry 87:307-311

(12) Contributing article, Mean caffeic acid content of rosemary (9.67 mg/100g)
J Chromatogr A. 2007 Mar 23;1145(1-2):155-64. Epub 2007 Jan 31.
Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography in analysis of Lamiaceae herbs: characterisation and quantification of antioxidant phenolic acids.
Kivilompolo M1, Hyötyläinen T.

(13) Contributing article, Mean caffeic acid content of thyme (21.28 mg/100g)
Zheng W., Wang S.Y. (2001) Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in selected herbs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 49:5165-5170

(14) Simply Organics Thyme
http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Organic-Certified-0-78-Ounce-Container/dp/B000WR4LM4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447701731&sr=8-1

(15) Contributing article, Ceylan cinnamon caffeic acid mean content (24.20 mg/100g)
J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Oct 5;53(20):7749-59.
Antioxidant capacity of 26 spice extracts and characterization of their phenolic constituents.
Shan B1, Cai YZ, Sun M, Corke H.

(16) Frontier Organics Ceylon Cinnamon
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=frontier+organic+ceylon+cinnamon&sprefix=frontier+organic+ce%2Caps%2C156

(17) Contributing article, mean caffeic acid content in sage (26.40 mg/100g)
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2007 Jun;388(4):881-7. Epub 2007 Apr 28.
Comparison of GC-MS and LC-MS methods for the analysis of antioxidant phenolic acids in herbs.
Kivilompolo M1, Obůrka V, Hyötyläinen T.

(18) Contributing article, mean caffeic acid content in sage (26.40 mg/100g)
Wang H., Provan G.J., Helliwell K. (2004) Determination of rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid in aromatic herbs by HPLC. Food Chemistry 87:307-311

(19) Contributing article, mean caffeic acid content in sage (26.40 mg/100g)
J Chromatogr A. 2007 Mar 23;1145(1-2):155-64. Epub 2007 Jan 31.
Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography in analysis of Lamiaceae herbs: characterisation and quantification of antioxidant phenolic acids.
Kivilompolo M1, Hyötyläinen T.

(20) Contributing article, mean caffeic acid content in Ceylon cinnamon
J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Oct 5;53(20):7749-59.
Antioxidant capacity of 26 spice extracts and characterization of their phenolic constituents.
Shan B1, Cai YZ, Sun M, Corke H.

(21) International Agency for Research on Cancer: Caffeic Acid
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol56/mono56-8.pdf

 

 

More “Toxic” Ingredients From Naturally Nicole

Nicole says aluminum is toxic, but you’ll find it from more than one source in her tooth powder.

In a previous article, “Naturally Nicole’s Tooth Powder Debunked“, we learned that the major “active” ingredient in Nicole’s homemade tooth powder was aluminum, derived from bentonite clay. Nicole claims aluminum is toxic, so this poses a bit of a conundrum for her.  Let’s refresh our memories on Nicole’s expert scientific advice concerning the most common metal in the earth’s crust:

“According to Natural Cosmetic News, some research has suggested that these aluminum compounds may be absorbed by the skin and cause changes in estrogen receptors of breast cells. Because estrogen can promote the growth of both cancer and non-cancer breast cells, some scientists have suggested that using the aluminum-based compounds […] may be a risk factor for the development of breast cancer. This is NOT okay with me.”–Naturally Nicole ²

 

It’s not OK with her, but she’s already selling it.  But, could she be so brazen as to sell it TWICE in the same product?  Why yes!  Yes she she could!

In taking a closer look at this woman’s snake oil toothpaste, I noticed another ingredient that readers might find of interest: kaolin.

Kaolin, an ingredient in Nicole’s clay, is, according to her own research,  toxic. (click/enlarge)

How about a quick trip over to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s PubChem database for a quick primer on kaolin?³  Kaolin’s molecular formula is Al₂H₄O₉Si₂.²  Earth to Nicole: that “Al₂”  indicates the presence of aluminum.  You know, the element you claim is so toxic in your articles?²

Maybe a picture would help.  Here’s kaolin for you, graphically.³  Note the aluminum.  I’ve highlighted it in yellow:

Naturally Nicole’s tooth powder contains even more aluminum, courtesy kaolin. But of course, since she’s selling it, HER aluminum must be safe!

Of course, Nicole will tell you that her aluminum is safe because… hand waving and magic.  Or contrived pseudoscientific babble about clay being a living “element”.  Believe me, I’ve tried to debate this with her.  I got just as far as I did with Vani Hari, GMO Inside, Nurses Against Mandatory Vaccines, Modern Alternative Mama, and a couple dozen other purveyors of things pseudoscientific. In other words, my comments were deleted and I was banned.

Well played Nicole.  Keep on selling those “toxins”!

Image Credits
Naturally Nicole product image captures are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

U.S. National Library of Medicine PubChem data/screen captures also used in compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge. USNLM and PubChem do not necessarily endorse and/or agree with this work.

References
(1) Naturally Nicole’s Tooth Powder (Ingredients)
https://www.opensky.com/madewithscrub/product/naturally-nicole-s-re-mineralizing-tooth-powder

(2) Do I Smell Funny?
http://naturallynicolexo.com/do-i-smell-funny-my-body-utopia-natural-deodorant-review-coupon-code/

(3) USNLM PubChem Summary for compound ID 56841936 (Kaolin)
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/56841936

Farm Fairy Crafts Selling Products With Caffeic Acid, a Group 2B carcinogen

An ad hom attack:  When you can’t debate the science, attack the messenger. (click/enlarge)

Farm Fairy Crafts, a crunchy momma organic product manufacturer, recently launched a barrage of Twitter ad homs after I pointed out the glaring truth that Vani Hari (aka “the Food Babe”) is selling a known pesticide and “coal tar dyes” to children.

Birds of a feather do seem to flock together.  It appears that Farm Fairy Crafts believes it’s OK for a vendor to sell something dangerous, as long as…

… well, honestly, I’m not sure exactly what their reasoning is.  They refused to explain it. When pressed for an explanation, they abandoned the conversation and blocked me.  But, to illustrate how far hypocrisy goes in the $39 billion organic product market, let’s put Farm Fairy Crafts under the same virtual microscope we used to analyze Vani Hari’s Pesticide for Children product.

Here’s a Farm Fairy Crafts tweet on glyphosate, recently (poorly) linked to cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).¹

I’m sure that since Farm Fairy Crafts uses the IARC as a source, they wouldn’t object to having the same standards applied to one of their own products.  How about this beautifully presented organic lavender cream?

Farm Fairy Crafts Organic Lavender

According to the company’s own web site, here are the ingredients in “Farm Fairy Crafts Solar Infused Organically Grown Lavender”:²

Far, Fairy Crafts Farms product contains two products known to contain caffeic acid, an IARC Group 2B carcinogen⁴

Mon Dieu!  Rosemary and Grapefruit!  Hold that thought…

I’ve found an online tool known as the “Phenol Explorer” to be an excellent starting point in investigating food content.  I Iike this tool because it provides full PubMed citations for the claims it makes.  In this case, I’m curious about an IARC Group 2B carcinogen known as caffeic acid.⁴

Where might we find caffeic acid, a Group 2B carcinogen?  Why, it’s in Farm Fairy Crafts’ Lavender product, in the form of Rosemary and Grapefruit:

Mean concentration of caffeic acid in rosemary, an ingredient in Farm Fairy Crafts products. Please see the linked Phenol Explorer article for details.³

 

Mean concentration of caffeic acid in grapefruit, an ingredient in Farm Fairy Crafts products.  Please see the linked Phenol Explorer article for details.³

You can find no less than seven studies linked, via PubMed, that analyze the caffeic acid content of the grapefruit and Rosemary found in Farm Fairy Craft’s “natural” cream.

Now, given that the IARC has placed both the hated (by Farm Fairy) glyphosate and beloved (by aforementioned Fairy Farm) “natural” ingredients onto a list linking them to cancer, can we expect a retraction or explanation from the good folks at Farm Fairy Crafts?  I sincerely doubt it.  As with all peddlers of pseudoscience, once they’re backed into a corner with evidence, the response is typical:

When you point out facts to a pseudoscientist, this is the predictable result. (click/enlarge)

Image Credits
All Twitter and Product screen snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

References
(1) Farm Fairy Crafts Tweet on Carcinogens
https://twitter.com/farmfairycrafts/status/645601140768378880

(2) Farm Fairy Crafts Solar Infused Organically Grown Lavender
https://www.etsy.com/listing/236443917/solar-infused-organically-grown-lavender?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

(3) Phenol Explorer: Caffeic Acid content in foods
http://phenol-explorer.eu/contents/polyphenol/457

(4) Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs, Volumes 1–112
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ClassificationsGroupOrder.pdf

Food Babe Selling Pesticide, Coal Tar Dyes To Children

Piggy Paint, sold by Food Babe. (click/enlarge)

Friday is payday here at Bad Science Debunked.  As I’m wont to do when I’m flush with cash, I thought a trip to FoodBabe.com for a little online shopping might be fun.  As always, we’ll  be wearing our Food Babe Investigator Hats^TM as we browse, which means that when evaluating the safety of product ingredients, we use Vani Hari’s rules.  In addition, as a special treat, we also need to don Food Babe Lab Coats (patent pending) and Vani Hari Safety Goggles,^SM because we’ll be going into our kitchen laboratory to do an actual chemistry experiment.

I can barely stand the excitement, and I already know what explodes!  Ready to go?  Put on those safety goggles.  Today’s Food Babe product is:  “Piggy Paint”.

Piggy paint?

Yes, Piggy Paint
I bought Food Babe’s Piggy Paint nail polish for children from Amazon.com after reading her article “New Products That Make Me Scream In Excitement”.¹  I screamed too, because I saw an elementary school science project being deceptively used to sell fingernail polish:

This cheap grade school science fair project fooled Food Babe.  I’ll recreate it later in the article, explain it, and show how her nail polish is just as “bad”. (click/enlarge)

If you’ve studied chemistry, even at the grade school level, you already know the secret of the “melted” styrofoam plate that makes Food Babe’s competition look so dangerous.  At the end of this article we’ll do a simple experiment to shed light on this.  But, for now, let’s just highlight the encoded FoodBabe.com affiliate link that allows us put vital cash in Vani Hari’s pocket each and every time we buy Piggy Paint from her:

Food Babe’s encoded  affiliate ID.

I’m fairly certain Hari donates a portion of each purchase toward the rehabilitation of GMO-injured penguins at the North Pole.  Such is the extent of her scientific outreach.  My dreams are sweeter each night knowing I’m helping fund her vital work.

Ingredients
Without further ado, let’s take a peek at the ingredients in this nail polish:²

The first highlighted ingredient, neem oil, is a well known pesticide used in organic farming.^3,4,5,6  (You did know that organic farmers use pesticides, didn’t you?)

Oh dear.  Vani Hari is selling a pesticide to children?

Why yes, she is.  At least it’s organic!  But crude oil is also 100% natural and organic, so we can’t defend her actions using an appeal to nature.  Vani is a skilled researcher, so this must be a mistake… can we just say neem oil isn’t toxic and move on?

“Twelve children were admitted with convulsions and altered sensorium following ingestion of locally obtained neem oil.  Ten died within 24 hours.”–Indian Journal of Pediatrics ⁷

Ten dead children?  So much for non-toxic!  But that’s just one report, right?

“This report highlights the toxicity associated with neem oil poisoning in an elderly male. […]  In the emergency department, the patient developed generalized convulsions with loss of consciousness. “–Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine ⁸

As it turns out, there are many reports of neem oil poisoning, especially in children (the target audience of Vani’s nail polish).  The Indian Journal of Pediatrics paper says that refining can remove toxic components, but Food Babe is against refined and processed products.  Honestly, I’m not sure how to defend Hari, my champion of science…  if I say that this is a cosmetic and all the poisonings were from drinking neem oil, her critics  will point out that she says applying toxins to your skin is dangerous as well .^9,10

If I mention that neem oil is also sometimes used as a traditional folk medicine and not just a pesticide, detractors of the Babe will point out the Subway bread debacle:  It didn’t matter to Food Babe that azodicarbonamide was used safely in one area (food)–since it was used in another setting (the manufacturer of yoga mats), it was dangerous everywhere.

Maybe we’d better treat Vani’s pesticide just as she would: ignore it completely and move on to something else.

Neem oil, found in Piggy Paint, is an organic pesticide (insect killer).  (click/enlarge)

 

Ooh, The Pretty Colors
Here are the Piggy Paint ingredients again. Let’s apply our Food Babe research methods to those interesting color/number combinations:

Ingredients in Piggy Paint nail polish. (click/enlarge)

“Orange 5″… “red 22″…  these seem to be the FDA-approved “short names” ¹³ for “D&C Orange Number 5” and “D&C Red Number 22”.  Why, they are!¹³  You know the D&C dyes, right?  Educate the masses, Vani:

In “Be A Drug Store Beauty Drop Out”, Vani Hari warns ominously that D&C “Coal Tar Dyes” can cause cancer and may be toxic to the brain. ⁹ (click/enlarge)

 

All of those “natural” colors Vani is selling to your kids and giving away to her friend’s little girls?  They’re all the same “toxic coal tar dyes” she warned would cause cancer and brain toxicity.

Oops.

According to Food Babe’s own “research”, she’s selling a toxic rainbow:

• “Red 28” is D&C Red 28 (CI 48410)
• “Yellow 10” is D&C Yellow 10 (CI 47005)
• “Violet 2” is D&C Violet 2 (CI 60725)
• “Red 22” is D&C Red 22 (CI 45380)

I’m disappointed in Food Babe for not catching this faux pas.  She didn’t have to go to the FDA, who regulates the dyes.  No, she has her own higher authority:  the  Environmental Working Group:¹¹

“In the end – If you want to know if your makeup is safe and not toxic – check out the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database, they have thousands of your favorite brands listed with their safety ratings for you to investigate yourself…”–Vani Hari¹¹

What does Vani’s beloved EWG say about the Orange 5 she’s selling?

“D&C Orange 5 is a synthetic dye produced from petroleum or coal tar sources”–EWG Skin Deep Database  ¹²

With full disclosure that I’m a co-author and this could be considered an affiliate link, Marc Draco and Kavin Senapathy point out in our book, The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House, that “coal tar dye” is a misleading term.  These dyes are commonly derived from petroleum now, not coal tar, but once “derived”, they’re no longer petroleum. The good folks at Piggy Paints reaffirmed this in an email to me, and correctly point out that the dyes are tested under the authority of, and approved by, the FDA. But since Food Babe says they’re dangerous, isn’t it curious that she’s selling them?

Looking at the big picture, Piggy Paint nail polish appears to be just as safe for its intended use as conventional nail polish. I hope the company won’t be punished because a hypocritical “activist” is selling this polish while simultaneously (falsely) linking the ingredients to myriad diseases. If not for their deceptive advertising, I’d be happy to buy Piggy Paint nail polish for my young nieces. I just wouldn’t buy it from Food Babe.

Speaking of that deceptive advertising, you’re welcome to join me in the kitchen for a quick experiment that exposes the “melting” Styrofoam plate used by Piggy Paint and Food Babe to scare people away from conventional nail polish…

 

How Piggy Paints and Vani Hoax Their Customers With That “Melting Plate” Demonstration
A skeptical mind would well ask why Vani and the Piggy Paint promoters selected a Styrofoam plate as the “substrate” (the target for their nail polishes) in the product demo that kicked off this article.  It’s almost as if they knew that the Piggy Paint wouldn’t eat through the plate while the competing nail polishes would, and chose styrofoam for that reason alone. In fact, that’s exactly what happened.

Conventional nail polishes contain a component known as a solvent that helps keep the polish in the form of liquid until it’s time to apply it.  Once on the nails, the solvent quickly evaporates, leaving behind a solid film of color bound to the nail.  Organic solvents used in nail polish include acetone, ethyl acetate, and butyl acetate.

Conventional nail polishes use organic solvents such as acetone, ethyl acetate, or butyl acetate. This brand, Revlon “Hot For Chocolate” purports to use all three!¹⁴ (click/enlarge)

Styrofoam is made up mostly of air and a small amount of a polymer named polystyrene.  The long polystyrene polymers in Styrofoam intertwine during manufacturing, trapping copious amounts of air.  95% or more of that styrofoam plate is actually just air.  (A kind reader pointed that “Styrofoam” is a trademark that covers a specific manufacturing process for polystyrene and that the manufacturer of Styrofoam doesn’t actually make cups and plates. Please note I used “Styrofoam” in the generic sense in this article.)

Polystyrene is soluble in acetone and other organic solvents used in nail polish and nail polish removers.  The solvents dissolve the polystyrene strands, allowing the air to escape. That’s all that happens.  What looks like “melting” certainly isn’t an indicator of what’s going to happen to your nails, which–in case you haven’t noticed–aren’t made of styrofoam. Knowing the composition of your product and your competitor’s product, it’s easy to pull off a deceptive marketing trick like “melting” a plate.

 

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better
But wait!  Two can play this game.

What if, using the very same rules laid down by Vani Hari and Piggy Paint, I can accomplish the opposite of what they’ve done with their Styrofoam test?  That is, would it be possible for me to make the Piggy Paints looks like the “Dirty Dissolvers” while the conventional nail polishes come out looking clean as fresh-fallen snow, not leaving a mark on the surface where they’re applied?

Let’s find out.

Here’s a reminder of the rules:  I have to use both Piggy Paint and conventional nail polishes.  Just as Team Piggy/Vani got to pick a Styrofoam plate, I get to pick my own substrate.  Whatever I choose, Piggy Paint must damage it.  Conversely, the conventional polishes can’t do it any harm.

OK.  I choose hard white discs with a circumference roughly equal to an American half dollar, made primarily of solidified sodium bicarbonate and citric acid.  The discs I’ve obtained are far more rigid than Team Piggy’s foam plates, and at least five times thicker:

I chose hard discs of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid instead of paper plates… (click/enlarge)

With any experiment, we need a control group.  Here is mine:  swatches of three conventional nail polishes spread on a styrofoam plate, alongside a similar spread of Piggy Paint polishes.  Note that the conventional polishes have bubbled and warped the plate just like with Team Piggy’s experiment, while the Piggy Paint leaves the plate unscathed. The control we’re using here affirms that we’re using the same type of nail polishes used in Vani Hari’s demo.

On the top: Piggy Paint. On the bottom: conventional nail polish, which seems to have “melted” the styrofoam plate. (click/enlarge)

 

Let’s pour some conventional nail polish on three of the discs, and Piggy Paint onto another three:

Foreground: Piggy Paint reacts violently with the three discs. Background: conventional nail polish has no effect on the discs. (click/enlarge)

Zut alors!  Piggy Paint reacts violently with the discs, while the conventional nail polishes have no effect whatsoever.  Look Ma… I just conclusively demonstrated that conventional nail polish is safe and Piggy Paints are dangerous.  Or not.

So what happened?

When I studied organic chemistry, we spent a huge amount of lab time learning to pick a solvent that would affect one substance while leaving another substance untouched.  This is really important when, for example, you want to separate two compounds.

So, knowing the solvent used in Piggy Paints (water), I picked Alka Seltzer discs.  The solid sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, for you Food Babe fans) and citric acid dissolved in the water.  The chemical reaction between base and acid released carbon dioxide, causing the Piggy Paint nail polish to bubble violently.  Alka Seltzer isn’t as soluble in acetone and other organic solvents as water, so before the discs could dissolve, the solvent evaporated, leaving the discs untouched by the conventional nail polish.

Did I cheat?  Well, only as much as Vani Hari and the Piggy Paint vendors did when they made that styrofoam plate appear to “melt” away.  The moral of the story: armed with a modest chemistry education, it’s easy lead the casual observer into believing something is “safe” or “dangerous” with nothing more than a cheap science fair project.  And that’s exactly what Food Babe and Piggy Paints have done.

 

Edit History
Noted polystyrene solubility in acetone, other solvents used in nail polish (ethyl acetate and butyl acetate are more common than acetone), sodium bicarbonate = baking soda, “Styrofoam” trademark, word “encoded” more accurately used than “encrypted” in describing Vani’s affiliate link. (13 Nov 2015).  Added Revlon “Hot For Chocolate” ingredients as an example of a nail polish that used all organic solvents mentioned in this article.

Image Credits
Piggy Paint and Food Babe screen snapshots and product image captures are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”). This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

Kitchen chemistry shots by the author. Freely distributable for educational purposes, photo credit to “Mark Aaron Alsip/Bad Science Debunked” appreciated.

References
(1) New Products That Make Me Scream In Excitement
http://foodbabe.com/2013/04/13/new-products-that-make-me-scream-in-excitement/

(2) Piggy Paint Ingredients
http://www.piggypaint.com/product-info/#.VikWjJegaoc

(3) Natria Neem Oil Pesticide (Lowes)
http://www.lowes.com/pd_636312-24182-706250_0__?k_clickID=cf2454b4-a7c6-4d38-af34-c02641845fd3&store_code=492&productId=50251737

(4) Garden Safe Neem Extract (Lowes)
http://www.lowes.com/pd_86891-316-HG-93179_0__?productId=3276665&store_code=492&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-LawnGarden-_-OutdoorPesticide-_-3276665:Garden_Safe&CAWELAID=&kpid=3276665&CAWELAID=112496842

(5) Bonide Neem Oil (DoYourOwnPestControl.com)
http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/bonide-s-neem-oil-concentrate-16-oz?gclid=CMDnwsC16MgCFYRFaQod1hEB5w

(6) Safer Brand 1 Galllon Neem Oil Insecticide
http://www.saferbrand.com/store/outdoor-insect/98424gal?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&CAWELAID=1571569067&CAGPSPN=pla&gclid=CM-I0eG16MgCFZKIaQodhggOvw

(7) The Indian Journal of Pediatrics
May 1982, Volume 49, Issue 3, pp 357-359
N. Sundaravalli, B. Bhaskar Raju M.D., K. A. Krishnamoorthy M.D. (1)
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02834422

(8) Neem oil poisoning: Case report of an adult with toxic encephalopathy
Indian J Crit Care Med. 2013 Sep-Oct; 17(5): 321–322.
Ajay Mishra and Nikhil Dave
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3841499/

(9) Be A Drug Store Beauty Dropout
http://foodbabe.com/2011/07/31/how-to-find-safe-beauty-products/

(10) Holistic Hair Care
http://foodbabe.com/2011/11/06/holistic-hair-care-how-why/

(11) How To Find The Best Natural Mascara That Actually Works
http://foodbabe.com/2013/07/27/how-to-find-the-best-natural-mascara-that-actually-works/

(12) EWG Skin Deep Database: Orange No. 5
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/701779/D%26C_ORANGE_5/

(13) Color Additives and Cosmetics (FDA)
http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/ColorAdditives/ColorAdditivesinSpecificProducts/InCosmetics/ucm110032.htm

(14) Revlon Hot For Chocolate/Ingredients (Amazon.com)
http://www.amazon.com/Revlon-Enamel-Hot-Chocolate-903/dp/B001KYVZ04/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1447870004&sr=1-1&keywords=revlon+hot+for+chocolate