As Vani Hari (the “Food Babe”) gloats over a nonsensical GMO labeling victory in which she arguably had no involvement, my nominee for the World’s Greatest Hypocrite award continues to pull the wool over the eyes over the collective sheep following her: This November, Food Babe will mark her sixth year as a seller of products derived from GMO corn.
Food Babe calls for a labeling revolution, but what about the GMO products SHE sells? (click/enlarge)
As I’ve pointed out numerous times, Clean Well Hand Sanitizer, which Hari hawks on her shopping page, is made with GMO corn. Food Babe has been selling this product for over five years, and the GMO-sourced corn has been very clearly pointed out to her time after time. How can you rant against GMOs and simultaneously sell products made with them? Oh, your name is Vani Hari.
To be sure, there is nothing to fear from GMOs. The entire labeling campaign, sponsored in large part by the $39 billion (2014 figures) organic food industry, is a clear attempt to demonize a competitor’s products in order to sell your own. Not surprisingly, Hari stands to benefit greatly from GMO labeling. Except… except that she’s selling so many products that contain the very ingredients she says are dangerous: like this hand sanitizer with the GMO corn. #JustLableIt Vani! Or quietly pull it from your storefront, like you did the BHT you were selling during your anti-BHT campaign, or the cellulose during your anti-cellulose campaign, or the artificial dyes and endocrine disruptors that…
Oh, wait. You haven’t pulled all the artificial dyes yet. You’re still selling them to children, along with an organic pesticide. I’m sure you’ll get around to addressing that. Eventually. Maybe.
JUST LABEL IT VANI. Food Babe claims GMOs are toxic and bad for the environment, but it hasn’t stopped her from selling a product made with GMO corn for over 5 five years.
Vani Hari deserves to be called out on this. The net result will likely only be her quietly pulling the product from her online store and denying it ever existed, but why not try? Suggested Twitter hashtags: #FoodBabeArmy, #FoodBabeWay, #PotKettleBlack, and #GMO.
Oh, and how about #JustLabelIt? 😉
Based on the upload date of her product image, we can deduce Food Babe has been selling her GMO-laden hand sanitizer since November, 2011. (click/enlarge)
Bad Science Debunked 
you spelled “lable” wrong in your #justlableit :p
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“To be sure, there is nothing to fear from GMOs. The entire labeling campaign, sponsored in large part by the $39 billion (2014 figures) organic food industry, is a clear attempt to demonize a competitor’s products in order to sell your own.”
This argument is so completely and utterly bonkers, but I see it time and time again.
No, labeling has nothing to do with demonizing anything or anyone. The notion that labels suggested something was in any way unsafe for use or consumption is intenable, and anyone suggesting so has lost all credibility on science, as they evidently don’t take due diligence in research very seriously. Even more, it demonstrates a profound ignorance of the very concept of product labeling and could be taken to imply distrust in one’s own words. Because good products don’t have to fear labels – they can and do embrace them and use them for marketing. Even labels originally introduced to shame and demonize products have in the past been turned around into a label carried with pride. To rail against labeling is suggesting that the product is not strong enough to pull that off.
It’s one thing to debunk Food Babe and her junk science. But labeling is not a scientific issue. And no, that’s not regrettable. Contrary to what some people with a lack of understanding of scientific theory think, science is not a universal tool to answer every question. And contrary to what some people in the GMO discussion believe, safety in use or consumption is not the only valid reason to object to a production method.
But maybe you wear clothes made in sweat shops with pride?
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“The burning question for us then becomes how–and how quickly–can we move healthy, organic products from a 4.2% market niche to the dominant force in American food and farming? The first step is to change our labeling laws.” –Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association president
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So?
No demonization in there whatsoever.
Incidentally, labeling demands exist outside the US, too.
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I respectfully disagree. The mischaracterization of organic foods as healthier clearly demonizes other foods. Organic foods are demonstrably not healthier.
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