Kelly Brogan, MD: A-Salt With a “Deadly” Weapon (Part One)

The takeaways:

• Kelly Brogan, M.D. claims aluminum is toxic to all life forms¹ and falsely links it to a plethora of diseases.
• Brogan’s fear mongering re: aluminum includes steering patients away from life-saving vaccines that contain small amounts of the element.
• Via her online store, the doctor sells aluminum via a health supplement, in amounts that equal or exceed the aluminum found in the vaccines she wrongly vilifies.
• Ominously, the 2018 SXSW Festival is offering Dr. Brogan a popular platform to further her dangerous and hypocritical “medical” views.

You can’t swing a virtual dead cat on the internet without hitting a doctor who has an online store, and Kelly Brogan, M.D., is no exception.  While Brogan tirelessly campaigns against aluminum in vaccines, foods, and beauty products, ironically, she sells a health supplement that contains as much or more aluminum than is found in the safe, critical vaccines against which she fear mongers.

Dr. Brogan peddles Real Salt², touted to contain more than sixty essential trace elements that promote health and well being.³  Unfortunately for the good doctor, one of those elements is aluminum, which she falsely links to a wide range of problems, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, neurological disorders, ADHD, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and others.^{1,4,5,6,7,8,10}

In the following images, we can see Real Salt for sale at KellyBroganMD.com,² as well as an elemental analysis of the salt provided by the vendor.⁹  Please click each image to enlarge.

A two-image composite from Kelly Brogan’s online store highlighting the “Real Salt” sold by the doctor. (click/enlarge)

Analysis of Kelly Brogan’s Real Salt reveals as much or more aluminum than can be found in the vaccines she wrongly vilifies.  See references for full list;9 this screen snapshot has been altered by the author to highlight the aluminum.  No changes to elements or quantities have been made.  (click/enlarge)

 

It must be strongly stated that the dangers posed by aluminum, and in particular Real Salt, the product sold by Ms. Brogan, exist solely in her mind.  The Real Salt brand is as safe as any item you’d find on your store shelf.

Route of administration (e.g. ingestion, injection, inhalation, absorption via the skin) matters in the real world, but you won’t find Kelly Brogan living in such a place.   She’s an equal opportunity alarmist, damning aluminum whether its injected as a vaccine, ingested as an antacid or baking soda, or rubbed on the skin as an antiperspirant.⁵  Fine.  Let’s play by her rules.  Since vaccines are arguably one of the most important advancements in recent human history, I thought it would be instructive to compare the amount of aluminum found in Brogan’s own product against that found in some of the essential vaccines she wrongly condemns.

Nothing but the Facts, Ma’am
As we can see in the previous table, Real Salt lists an average of 0.1946mg of aluminum per serving in their product,** where a serving size is 1.4 grams (approximately one quarter teaspoon).  By comparison:

• The HPV vaccine is indicted by Brogan for alleged biotoxicity.⁶   It protects against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV), and contains 0.5mg/dose of aluminum.^11,13  This is equal to just  2.6 servings of Kelly Brogan’s salt.

 

• Regarding the 0.125 mg/dose of aluminum in the Pneumococcal vaccine,^12,13 the aluminum in Brogan’s salt exceeds the vaccine’s by 36%.   That’s right, you’ll get more aluminum from the doctor’s Real Salt than from the vaccine.  Yes, I know it’s ingested rather than injected here, but remember, Brogan damns aluminum regardless of route of administration.⁵   Dr. B. wrongly links the Pneumococcal vaccine’s aluminum to autoimmunity, long-term brain inflammation, and associated neurological complications.⁷  The vaccine is an important protection against diseases such as pneumonia and bacterial meningitis.

• Dr. Brogan weaves a very tangled tale in regard to the DTaP/inactivated polio/Hib vaccine, which contains 0.33mg/dose aluminum.^13,14  The upshot of her article, which you’ll find linked here and in the references, is that this vaccine is somehow partly responsible for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).¹⁰  A terrifying claim, especially when you consider that two servings of her salt, at 0.1946g aluminum each, provides 16% more aluminum than the vaccine.

Good Enough to Eat?
So far, we’ve limited our investigation to vaccines, which are injected. But, as I said, Brogan doesn’t want you ingesting aluminum either.  One of her prime targets is antacids because they contain, (sigh), aluminum.  How much?  Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control, you can find 104 to 208 mg/tablet of aluminum in off-the-shelf antacids.¹⁵   Doing our math from earlier, assuming a buyer of Dr. Brogan’s Real Salt used one serving per day, every day for a year, we’d end up with:

0.1946mg Al/serving/day * 365 days = 71mg of aluminum per year

Hmm.  71mg from Brogan falls a bit short of the 104mg minimum from the antacids she eschews.  And you’d think that as the year went on, you’d be clearing some of that aluminum from your body, right?  Au contraire mon frère, says Kelly Brogan:

“Aluminum stays in the body for several years” –Kelly Brogan, “Special Report, Vaccines and Brain Health”⁴ (emphasis mine)

So, by the doctor’s own assertions, the supposedly-toxic element in her product will stick with you, dose-by-dose, for years.   We’d need 534 servings, or just about one and half years (one serving per day) of Dr. Brogan’s Real Salt to reach the “poisonous” (wink wink, nudge, nudge) levels in her ostracized antacid tablet.

As I mentioned earlier in the article, Real Salt is completely safe.  The trace amounts of the elements found therein not at all harmful.  It is my hope that an honest company won’t be held responsible because a questionable doctor tried to make money hawking their products.

You have to ask yourself: is Kelly Brogan really worth her salt?

 

If Dr. Brogan says aluminum is toxic to all life forms, perhaps she shouldn’t be selling it to the life forms who follow her on social media. (click/enlarge)

 

Oh, if it only ended there.  Not only does the distinguished doctor sell you greater quantities of an element she claims will put you in an early grave, she strongly encourages you to obtain it naturally.

Milk, anyone?

 

“Milk is for babies.  When you grow up, you have to drink beer.”–Arnold Schwarzenegger
When she isn’t busy selling aluminum to her followers, Brogan is hard at work encouraging breastfeeding.^17,18,19  This is particularly unfortunate for her anti-aluminum argument.  According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, breastfed infants receive approximately 7mg of aluminum naturally from their mother’s milk during the first six months of life, compared to only 4.4mg from vaccines.¹³  So, Brogan is directly encouraging the consumption of aluminum (via breast milk).

Babies won’t be directly ingesting Brogan’s salt of course, but I can’t help but compare aluminum in breast milk to the additional amount a new mother would add to her diet if she used just one serving of Brogan’s salt, one serving a day, over six months:

(0.1946mg aluminum/serving Brogan’s Salt * ~30 days/month * 6 months = 35.028mg aluminum/six months)

Via the salt she sells, Brogan would be dosing our unsuspecting mother with five times the amount of aluminum naturally given to the baby via breast milk, and nearly eight times the aluminum that baby would receive from vaccines in the first six months of his/her life.  The amount of  salt-based aluminum that would actually pass to the baby would be function of many factors including the mother’s metabolism, renal function, etc.

But, isn’t it interesting that Kelly Brogan’s Real Salt doesn’t come with a warning to nursing mothers?

Wrapping It All Up
At this point, I was tempted to pick on the irony of Dr. Brogan’s apparent aversion to wrapping food in aluminum foil, and point out that the manufacturer of her salt proudly proclaims their salt mine is wrapped in a layer of bentonite clay.  Bentonite, if you remember your college chemistry, has the formula Al₂H₂Na₂O₁₃Si₄.  See the aluminum in there?  Brogan’s aluminum-laden salt is itself quite literally wrapped in aluminum.

But pedantics aside, let’s focus instead on the fact that the World Health Organization, the CDC, and medical consensus contradict Dr. Brogan in every way possible.^13,15,16  Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the crust of our planet and you’d be hard pressed to avoid it in the food you eat, the air you breath, and the water you drink. According to the CDC, an average adult in the United States eats about 7–9 mg of aluminum per day in their food.¹⁵  The World Health Organization concurs, saying that aluminum intake from foods represents the major route of aluminum exposure to the general public.¹⁶

Most aluminum in food, water, and medicines leaves your body quickly in the feces. Much of the small amount of aluminum that does enter the bloodstream will quickly leave your body in the urine.¹⁵   The human body evolved to handle the amounts of this element we encounter on a daily basis quite nicely, thank-you-very-much, and unless you have a medical condition such as impaired renal function, Dr. Brogans tirades against aluminum aren’t worth their salt.  I encourage you to ask a real doctor.

Epilogue: SXSW
Sadly, as I go to press with this article, I’ve learned that the annual SXSW festival has named Kelly Brogan as a consultant to their advisory board.²⁰  Giving an HIV/AIDS denialist who sells her patients the very products she says will kill them is unconscionable, and in this author’s opinion, should be met with firm, polite suggestions to the festival that they seek medical advice from better vetted sources.

This quote SXSW is particularly puzzling:

While SXSW strongly disagrees with many of Kelly Brogan’s controversial opinions, we do believe that inclusion of a variety of viewpoints from a diverse group of people is important to creating a dialog for the community represented at the SXSW Wellness Expo²⁰–via Kavin Senapathy/Forbes

Suppose this came from NASA instead?

“While NASA strongly disagrees with many flat-earther controversial opinions, we do believe that inclusion of a variety of viewpoints from a diverse group of people is important as we complete the Near Earth Object survey that will protect our round (or is it flat?  Hey, it’s just an opinion!) planet from a potential extinction level event”

SXSW’s comments reek strongly of the plague of “alternate facts” that have, sadly, gained traction in our country.  I’m sorry, but in science, there are no alternate facts.  Dr. Brogan’s $4,000 consults for coffee enemas, AIDS denial, and selling her patients ingredients that she herself labels toxic do not constitute “controversial opinions”… they constitute what this writer believes to be medical malpractice, and should be investigated.

If you agree, and would like to make your voice heard, you can tweet to @sxsw.  The hashtag #BumpBrogan is trending.  You may wish to take a moment and make it even trendier!

 

Footnotes
** Salt analysis was performed by Advanced Laboratories, Inc. of Salt Lake City, UT, who notes that because the product being tested is a naturally occurring product that
has not been refined, actual elemental results of any specific lot number will vary slightly. Please click here to return to the article.

A typo in the “Good Enough to Eat?” section swapped units of measure and has been corrected.

References
(1) “Aluminum is Toxic to all Lifeforms” (Kelly Brogan Facebook Post)
https://www.facebook.com/KellyBroganMD/posts/366045836935604
Retrieved 10 Dec 2017

(2) Real Salt (Kelly Brogan Online Store)
http://kellybroganmd.com/resources/
Retrieved 11 Dec 2017

(3) Real Salt (FAQ)
https://realsalt.com/faq/
Retrieved 15 Dec 2017

(4) Vaccines and Brain Health (Kelly Brogan)
Warning: not a scholarly article
https://kellybroganmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/VaccinesandBrainHealth.pdf
Retrieved 12 Dec 2017

(5) Detox–Why You Need To (Kelly Brogan)
Warning: not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/why-detox/
Retrieved 10 Dec 2017

(6) The Truth is Out: Gardasil Vaccine Coverup Exposed (Kelly Brogan)
Warning: not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/truth-out-gardasil-coverup-documents-exposed/
Retrieved 12 Dec 2017

(7) Psychobiology of Vaccination Effects:
Bidirectional Relevance of Depression (Kelly Brogan)
Warning: not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Psychobiology.pdf
Retrieved 12 Dec 2017

(8) Hepatitis B Vaccine – Is it Safe for Your Newborn?
Warning: not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/hepatitis-b-vaccine-for-your-newborn/
Retrieved 15 Dec 2017

(9) Real Salt Elemental Analysis
http://realsalt.redmond.life/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/05/Real-Salt-Analysis.pdf
Retrieved 14 Dec 2017

(10) Could this be Driving the Epidemic of Sudden Infant Death (SIDS)?  (Kelly Brogan)
http://kellybroganmd.com/driving-epidemic-sudden-infant-death-sids/
Retrieved 15 Dec 2017

(11) GARDASIL® Package Insert
[Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18)
Vaccine, Recombinant]
Suspension for intramuscular injection
https://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM111263.pdf
Retrieved 13 Dec 2017

(12) FDA Approved Vaccines (UCM201669.pdf:  Prevnar 13)
https://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM201669.pdf
Retrieved 14 Dec 2017

(13) Vaccine Ingredients–Aluminum (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-ingredients/aluminum
Retrieved 11 Dec 2017

(14) Pentacel Package Insert
https://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/vaccines/approvedproducts/ucm109810.pdf
Retrieved 16 Dec 2017

(15) CDC: Public Health Statement for Aluminum
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=1076&tid=34
Retrieved 10 Dec 2017

(16) Aluminum in Drinking Water (World Health Organization)
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/water-quality/guidelines/chemicals/aluminium.pdf?ua=1
Retrieved 14 Dec 2017

(17) Breastfeeding: A Reproductive Right (Kelly Brogran)
Warning: Not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/breastfeeding-a-reproductive-right/
Retrieved 15 Dec 2017

(18) Baby and Breast: Perfect Together
Warning: Not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/baby-and-breastmilk/
Retrieved 15 Dec 2017

(19) Natural Birth and Breastfeeding: Replaceable?
Warning: Not a scholarly article
http://kellybroganmd.com/natural-birth-breastfeeding-replaceable/
Retrieved 15 Dec 2017

(20) SXSW Festival Slammed For Including HIV/AIDS Denialist In 2018 Wellness Expo
Kavin Senapathy/Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2017/12/11/sxsw-festival-slammed-for-including-hiv-aids-denialist-in-wellness-expo/#6c8d8c576174
Retrieved 11 Dec 2017

 

Image Credits
Real Salt Logos, product imagery, and ingredients analysis snapshots are all 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.

Kelly Brogan, M.D. web site screen snapshots, facebook posts, and images are all 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.

Mike Adams’ GMO Addiction

Author’s note: I’ve been contacted by Health Products Distributors, the manufacturer of the product mentioned in this article, and asked to reaffirm that, as mentioned in the original writeup, the reformulated product no longer uses soy–it uses non-GMO sunflower oil. There is a disagreement on when the sunflower oil formulation went into use in the Natural News store. HPD now says 2013, though when contacted for the original version of this article, they said it was still being phased in, and the Natural News labeling still clearly showed soy. I’ve reached out to Natural News for comment and will provide an update here when it’s available.

Wasn’t it just yesterday we were pointing out that Mike Adams of Natural News was still selling GMOs while simultaneously claiming they would kill you?  Well, OK, it was two days ago.  But who’s counting?

Actually, I’m counting.  And I’m up to three–three times the Natural News Nattering Nabob of Nonsense has told you GMOs will eat away your innards, then turned around and sold you products containing GMOs!  Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, we proudly present Rejuvenate Plus, the current batch made with GMO soy, available from Mike Adams’ Health Ranger store:¹

Rejuvenate Plus, from the Health Ranger store (click/enlarge)

I emphasize “current batch” in the preceding paragraph because the manufacturer, Health Products Distributors of Tucson, Arizona, informed me during a phone call that they were switching from GMO soy lecithin to non-GMO sunflower lecithin.  But, for now, here’s what Ranger Mike’s been pushing on his unsuspecting customers:

Ingredients in Health Ranger’s Rejuvenate Plus. Note the GMO soy lecithin (click/enlarge)

As we all know by now, there’s nothing to fear from genetically modified organisms and/or products derived from them.  Mike Adams and his #NaturalNonsense store make a small fortune bilking innocent people out of hard-earned money by selling them expensive items that contain the very same ingredients that they lie about being dangerous.  In fact, Natural News recently published a story falsely claiming GMO food was turning pigs’ stomachs to mush and hilariously suggested that it would do the same to humans…² all the while selling GMO food to humans here and here.

Why, the only way Natural News could possibly recede any further into the Twilight Zone would be by publishing a serious article warning of an actual pending zombie apocalypse.  They wouldn’t.  They couldn’t.  Would they?

Oh Sweet Jesus and bless their hearts, they did.  Judge their integrity for yourselves, dear reader:

This is a real Natural News headline. Mike Adams sanctions this tripe, along with harmful anti-cancer nonsense and GMO propaganda. Be an educated adult in 2017. Say no to #NaturalNonsense.  (click/enlarge)

 

References
(1) Rejuvenate Plus from the Health Ranger Store
https://www.healthrangerstore.com/collections/health-concerns/products/rejuvenate-plus-500-g?variant=16538979393

(2) GMO feed turns pig stomachs to mush! Shocking photos reveal severe damage caused by GM soy and corn
http://www.naturalnews.com/040727_GMO_feed_severe_inflammation_pig_stomachs.html

Image Credits
Natural News, Mike Adams/Health Ranger, Health Product Distributors screen and product snapshots are used in strict 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.

The screen capture from the film The Sixth Sense  is used under parody provisions of the same Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

Natural News, Mike Adams Selling Even More GMOs

Natural News founder Mike Adams is vehemently opposed to products that contain genetically modified (GMO) ingredients, so why do we once again find him selling GMOs?

Consider, if you will, Ultimate Protector, made by Health Products Distributors of Tucson, Arizona, and offered by Adams’ Natural News online store.¹  This “cell protection formula” uses genetically modified black soybeans.  Even though the bottle itself is labelled non-GMO,  I spoke with three Health Product Distributors representatives by phone, and again by email, and they confirmed that the company does indeed use GMO soy in several of their offerings, including Ultimate Protector.

 

Ultimate Defender capsules as seen on NaturalNews.com (click/enlarge)

As my grandma always said, you can’t swing a dead cat in the Natural News market without hitting a product that the self-styled Health Ranger falsely claims will harm you.  We already found him peddling GMOs back in July, 2016.²  In that same month, items that (by his definition) contain formaldehyde were found on his virtual shelves,³ even though he links the preservative to brain damage, cancer, and seizures.

Yes Virginia,  Mike Adams’ products are made from GMO soy  (click/enlarge)

I used Natural News’ online chat utility to ask the company about their GMO sales, but the representative I spoke with was double parked in the no comment zone.

As we all know, there’s nothing to fear from GMOs, and Health Products Distributors (HPD), who Adams unintentionally and falsely maligns through his scientific illiteracy and poor research, should not be penalized because he happens to stock their wares.  HPD reps  were very open and patient with me during our phone calls and didn’t hold back when answering questions.  I’m skeptical of some of the “science” they quoted (such as being able to “strip antigens from the GMO ingredients” before adding them to the mix), but let’s not punish them for Mike Adams’ sins.

No one has ever shown GMOS to be dangerous, and let’s remember that the man claiming otherwise has graced us with “news” goodies such as a recent thermonuclear missile launch near Los Angeles:

THIS NEVER HAPPENED–but the Truth Train doesn’t make regular stops at Natural News Station.  Are you going to take advice on cancer from this site? (click/enlarge)

We can (and should) laugh at Mike Adams’ ridiculous claims about nukes, but what about  his fake news that leads innocent cancer patients away from real doctors, and into his den of deception (aka the “Health Ranger Store”).   Here, it’s time to get angry.  It’s not funny when someone loses a life, but that’s the path down which Mike Adams is leading us.

Join me in making 2017 the year of the #NaturalNonsense hashtag:  pledge not to share articles from NaturalNews.com, the web’s most blatant fake news web site.

Let’s close this piece with a laugh: head over to YouTube and watch Mike Adams and a puppet sing about not eating the very same GMOs they’re selling online!⁴

Don’t want to eat GMOs?  Take the damn things out of your store then Mike! (click/enlarge)

References

(1) Ultimate Protector capsules on Natural News
https://www.healthrangerstore.com/products/ultimate-protector-180-vcaps?variant=16535585793

(2) Mike Adams and Natural News are Peddling GMOs
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/mike-adams-and-natural-news-are-peddling-gmos/

(3) Unnatural News: The Health Ranger Sells Formaldehyde
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/unnatural-news-the-health-ranger-sells-formaldehyde/

(4) The (very hypocritical) Mike Adams GMO Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEVw5Jl4c2g

Image Credits

Natural News, Mike Adams/Health Ranger, Health Product Distributors screen and product snapshots are used in strict 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.I can’t find a source for the original snake oil salesman snapshot that I Photoshopped with Adams’ image. I’m legally using it under the parody provisions of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, but would love to credit the source if anyone can help me find it. A Google image search returned over 3 dozen hits, none with a definitive source

The Thrive Market/Environmental Working Group Connection

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive”. Walter Scott, Marmion, Canto VI, XVII

In days past, we’ve browsed the virtual shelves of Thrive Market and found astounding examples of hypocrisy: deodorant containing aluminum sold by the very store that links this combination to cancer,¹ and products containing derivatives of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), although Thrive’s raison d’être seems to be the eradication of all GMO crops from the face of the Earth.²

Mentioned, but not deeply explored in those articles, is that Thrive Market is being aggressively pushed by the pseudoscientific Environmental Working Group (EWG). EWG, although they apparently do no actual scientific research, have set themselves up as an authority on food and product safety.  You’ll often see EWG’s “research” quoted by online vendors such as Thrive.

There’s a problem here: a vicious circle in which money, advertising, and pseudo-research circulate in a complex “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” cycle. It goes something like this:

• Organic companies like Bronner’s and Organic Valley donate to EWG to fund their work.
• EWG publishes non-original, cherry-picked “research” that makes their donors’ products look superior.
• The donors offer their wares on ThriveMarket.com.
• EWG launches an email campaign pushing Thrive, touting membership discounts, and citing cherry-picked “research” to guarantee product safety.
• Thrive cites EWG as an authority when advertising ThriveMarket.com products, claiming superiority over competing brands.
• Feeling assured by all the supposed research, the unsuspecting public purchases the donors’ products from Thrive.  After Thrive gets its cut, proceeds from the sales go back to the companies who donated to EWG… who promoted Thrive.  Dizzy yet?
• To add insult to injury, the public doesn’t realize many of the products they’re buying contain the same ingredients they were told were harmful.^1,2

To be honest, I get confused reading it too.  Here’s a pretty picture: (click to enlarge):

Follow the money: Thrive Market and the Environmental Working Group. (click/enlarge)

How widespread is the problem?  It’s hard to say.  The Environmental Working Group is tight-lipped about their donors, publishing only a small subset online.³  Not all of the organic companies listed on the EWG funding page can be found selling in the Thrive Market (yet),^4,5 but that’s just one store, and, as we’ll see in upcoming article, this isn’t the only way EWG props up companies who are friendly to their cause.

Thrive’s love affair with the Environmental Working Group is evident in the rampant quoting of EWG’s so-called research throughout the market’s web site,⁶ and, to be blunt, when watching Thrive founder Gunnar Lovelace praise EWG President Ken Cook and his company’s work, you want to tell tell the two to get a room.⁷  Really guys.  Please.

This tangled web will get even more complicated in upcoming days, as we look at the financial involvement of faux “consumer advocate” organizations such as U.S. Right to Know and the Organic Consumers Organization which, via the Environmental Working Group, have a tenuous link to Thrive Market.  The upshot of all this is that it’s easy to sell products when you create your own astroturf-like research research and advocacy organizations and quote them liberally.  Sadly, not enough of mainstream American media is aware this is happening.

Tomorrow though, we’ll return to the lighter side and look at a rather horrific blunder by Thrive: after warning shoppers to avoid a particular form of cosmetic ingredient and claiming their store is free and clear of it… [insert ominous sounds of thunder].

 

References
(1) Thrive Market’s “Toxic” Deodorant: I Smell A Rat (Bad Science Debunked)
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2016/08/18/thrive-markets-toxic-deodorant-i-smell-a-rat/

(2) Anti-GMO Thrive Market Sells GMOs (Bad Science Debunked)
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/anti-gmo-thrive-market-sells-gmos/

(3) Partial List of EWG Funding Sources
http://www.ewg.org/about-us/funding

(4) Dr. Bronner on Thrive Market
https://thrivemarket.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=dr+bronner

(5) Organic Valley on Thrive Market
https://thrivemarket.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=organic+valley

(6) Thrive Market, Articles Tagged “EWG”
https://thrivemarket.com/blog/tag/ewg

(7) Thrive Market: What You Can Do To Shed Light On Bizarre Ingredients In Your Food
https://thrivemarket.com/blog/watch-can-shed-light-bizarre-ingredients-food

 

Image Credits
Thrive, Dr. Bronner’s, Organic Valley, and EWG product/screen snapshots are used in strict 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.

Anti-GMO Thrive Market Sells GMOs

This very important public service announcement just in from Thrive Market, guardian of all that is good and holy in the world of organic goods:

“Thrive Market is passionately committed to creating a world that is free of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. We believe everyone has a right to know what they are eating and what chemicals are used in the foods they consume every day. That’s why we have carefully screened our products to ensure we do not carry any GMO foods.”¹

Amen!  Preach it, brother!  Testify!

Actually, you might want to hold off on that.  Thrive, how about getting down off your high horse and looking at the ingredients in your own products?  Here, let me help you: Take a look at this nice bottle of Quantum zinc throat spray featured in your online store:²

Quantum Thera zinc throat spray from Thrive Market. (click/enlarge)

Vanna, show us the ingredients please (click to enlarge):

I’d like to buy several vowels. Enough to form the words “soy lecithin”. (click/enlarge)

Take note of the soy lecithin (highlighted).  Derived from soybeans, soy lecithin is a natural, safe emulsifier–an additive that lends stability to foods.  The problem for Thrive Market is that almost all soy produced in the United States is genetically modified.³  A quick phone call to Quantum’s customer service department confirmed that the soy in many of their products, including the throat spray sold by Thrive is, in fact, GMO.

So Thrive Market’s promise of a GMO-free store falls as flat as an Olympic pole vaulter who didn’t realize his shoestrings were tied together before setting off on his run.

Thrive Market is selling products with ingredients derived from GMOs.

We could quibble over the fact that the product in question is a throat spray–not a food–but it’s still clearly intended to be ingested:

“A great alternative to yucky-tasting zinc lozenges! In fact, just two spritzes every couple of hours of Thera Zinc Oral Spray is the most effective, tastiest way to deliver ionizable zinc to your throat. Thera Zinc is sprayed in the back of the mouth, sending powerful nutrients to the areas requiring the most protection.”–Quantum throat spray marketing statement ²

More importantly, Thrive and their misinformed organic backers are intent on ridding the world of GMOs in their entirety, no matter what product they’re found in.  The anti-GMO zealots are horribly wrong about the effect that genetically modified crops have on the environment, wanting them to be removed entirely.  Actually, there are ways in which GMOs are beneficial.  For example, farmers who grow Bt corn are able to use less pesticides.  Regardless,  it’s rather dishonest of Thrive to demonize a perfectly safe crop production method, then sell products derived using that same method to their customers.

And, having said this, we must pause and state in the strongest possible terms that there is nothing harmful in Quantum’s zinc throat spray.  This is just another small business trying to eke out a living that, unfortunately, got caught up in the tangled web of a $39 billion organic food industry using fear to market their products as “better”.  There’s nothing superior, in any way imaginable, about organic products compared to their GMO counterparts.  However, Quantum did tell me that they hope to eventually switch over to non-GMO soy.  This saddens me.  Yet another company bows to the irrational demands of a public that doesn’t realize how easily they’re being manipulated.

Hold On, It Gets Worse
Alert label readers may have noticed the company’s misspelled “Proplylene Glycol” [sic] next to the soy lecithin on the product label.  They’re actually talking about propylene glycol, a harmless additive with a wide range of uses, including as surfactants and preservatives.

Woe unto Thrive Market, however, as they label propylene glycol as a dangerous endocrine disruptor in another of their hilariously bad scare pieces.  In “Five Simple Pro Tips for Perfect Skin”,⁴ author Lauren Whitehouse warns readers to not allow “toxic” propylene glycol to touch their skin via cosmetics.  Yet we now find Thrive Market literally trying to shove this so-called poison down our throats.  Well, OK, spray it down our throats.  Don’t worry though:  just like GMO soy, propylene glycol is harmless.  As intimated by Pinocchio in the opening graphic, Thrive and their backers aren’t exactly behind honest with us.

From whence comes so much of Thrive Market’s bad science and resulting hypocrisy?  One culprit seems to be the pseudoscientific Environmental Working Group, a special interest group that does no real research but is oft-cited by Thrive as a scientific authority.  It turns out that EWG may have more of a financial stake in Thrive and other organic markets than meets the eye.  Check back tomorrow, and I’ll start laying it out for you.

 

References
(1) Thrive Market’s GMO-free Promise
https://thrivemarket.com/gmo-free

(2) Quantum Zinc Throat Spray
https://thrivemarket.com/quantum-thera-zinc-throat-spray

(3) USDA: Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-us/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption.aspx

(4) Five Simple Pro Tips for Perfect Skin
https://thrivemarket.com/blog/skin-dos-donts

 

Image Credits
Thrive and  Quantum product/screen snapshots are used in strict 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.

Pinocchio and Wheel of Fortune meme characters are used under parody provisions of 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.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Lethal” Lipstick

Of all the celebrities with online stores, perhaps none is more dangerous or hypocritical than Gwyneth Paltrow.  Dangerous because of her scientifically illiterate healthcare stance and the worldwide stage–built by her celebrity status–from which she gets to promote it.  The hypocrisy?  Hoo boy, our cup runneth over with examples.

Paltrow’s web site, Goop.com, is a poorly disguised pseudoscientific version of Amazon.com, hidden behind articles ostensibly giving healthcare advice, but in reality selling products that contain exactly the same ingredients that are claimed to be dangerous.  For example, Goop is riddled with horror stories linking the mere presence of the element aluminum in cosmetics and medicine to a plethora of diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, and mental health problems.^1,2,3  A specific admonition is to avoid aluminum in lipstick.  Why?  Because:

“[…] to put the importance of safe ingredients in perspective, consider that, unlike the toxins in, say, skin cream, you don’t just absorb what’s in lipstick, you consume it” ¹

With all this talk of aluminum, lipstick, and hypocrisy, clever readers have no doubt picked up on the literary device known as foreshadowing.  It’s time to click our way on over to Goop.com and look at the ingredients in the Rituel de Fille Forbidden lipstick on offer there:⁴

Ricinus communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Carmine [CI 75470], Silica (Silicon Dioxide), Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Carnauba Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Titanium Dioxide [CI 77891, CI 77019], Aluminum Hydroxide, Stearic Acid, Mica [CI 77019], Iron Oxide [77499], Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Hexylene Glycol–Rituel de Fille Forbidden Ingredients (Fortune Teller)⁴

Oh dear.  Bless Paltrow’s heart!  Aluminum hydroxide is made up of aluminum, oxygen, and hydrogen.

Aluminum (!)

Weren’t we just talking about this?  Gentle reader, here’s Gwyneth’s web site waxing poetic on aluminum:

“I have grave concerns about […] neurotoxic metals like mercury and aluminum“³

“Western medicine is hesitant to say that aluminum causes breast cancer, but this toxic heavy metal is found in breast cancer tumors.” ²

“A study out of the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health found nine toxic heavy metals, including chromium, cadmium, aluminum, and lead in the popular lipstick formulas they analyzed.” ¹

That last quote is especially appalling as it appears in the same fluff piece that hawks the Rituel de Fille lipstick.  Yes, in the same article, Paltrow warns readers to avoid lipstick containing aluminum and sells them lipstick containing aluminum.

Talk about a con game.  The celebrity who steams her vagina⁶ has balls the size of Texas.

Two Rituel de Fille colors sold by Paltrow’s Goop.com contain aluminum. The lipstick is  tagged as toxic in the very article that sells it.  (click/enlarge)

It’s easy to miss the banned ingredient if you don’t read the product label for the Fortune Teller shade.  But there’s more:  Like any good poker player who knows she’s up against a weak opponent, Paltrow isn’t afraid to double down when she’s bluffing.  You’ll also find aluminum hydroxide in “Against Nature”, another Goop.com Rituel de Fille offering.⁵  Not understanding the chemistry or biology behind the aluminum scare (or bothering to read the labels), gullible shoppers quickly fold their hands and open up their pocketbooks. Ka-ching.

In pointing out the hypocrisy of fear mongers with merchandise to sell, I think it’s important to pause and point out that the item itself is not dangerous.  There’s nothing wrong with Rituel de Fille cosmetics, Goop.com’s whining about aluminum to the contrary.  We’re talking about the most common metal in the crust of the Earth, arguably impossible to avoid in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.  Medical experts say that unless you’re suffering from a disease such as kidney failure, the aluminum you encounter in your diet and cosmetics are handled quite well by the body.  I’ve written ad nauseam about this^{7,8,9,10,11,12} and won’t re-hash it.

As we’ll see in upcoming articles, Rituel de Fille Forbidden lipstick is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to products that contain chemicals Paltrow’s web site claims to be toxic and then pawns off on unsuspecting readers.  If you thought hustlers like Vani Hari, David Avocado Wolfe, and Joseph Mercola were bad, well, as the old Bachman Turner Overdrive song says, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”.

References
(1) Full-On—Yet Totally Non-Toxic—Lipstick
http://goop.com/full-on-yet-totally-non-toxic-lipstick/

(2) The Guide to Non-Toxic Deodorant—Plus Our 7 Favorites
http://goop.com/the-guide-to-non-toxic-deodorant-plus-our-7-favorites/

(3) The Roots of Mental Health—Maybe They’re Not In Our Heads
Goop.com Q&A with Kelly Brogan, M.D.
http://goop.com/the-roots-of-mental-health-maybe-theyre-not-in-our-heads/

(4) Rituel de Fille Ingredients: “Fortune Teller”
http://ritueldefille.com/forbidden-lipstick-fortune-teller/

(5) Rituel de Fille Ingredients: “Against Nature”
http://ritueldefille.com/forbidden-lipstick-against-nature/

(6) Steam-cleaning your vagina like Gwyneth Paltrow is not recommended (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/31053429/steam-cleaning-your-vagina-like-gwyneth-paltrow-is-not-recommended

(7) World Health Organization: Aluminum in Drinking Water
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/en/aluminium.pdf

(8) Cancer.gov Antipersperant Fact Sheet
http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet

(9) Flu Vaccine: The Aluminum Lining
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/flu-vaccine-the-aluminum-lining/

(10) More “Toxic” Ingredients from Naturally Nicole
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/more-toxic-ingredients-from-naturally-nicole/

(11) Naturally Nicole’s Tooth Powder Debunked
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/naturally-nicoles-tooth-powder-debunked/

(12) Food Babe Pushing “Dangerous” Items: Naturally Fresh Deodorant
https://badscidebunked.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/food-babe-pushing-dangerous-items-naturally-fresh-deodorant/

Image Credits
Goop.com and Rituel de Fille screen/product snapshots are used in strict 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.

Opening photo illustration by Mark Alsip/Bad Science Debunked.  Constructed with elements (c) Gwyneth Paltrow/Instagram, Rituel de Fille.  Also 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.

McDonald’s Food Myth Debunked–Again

Please God, not again

We shouldn’t be here–again.

Making an encore appearance across countless Facebook feeds is YET another claim that McDonald’s food, left untouched for years, has gone unspoiled, ostensibly because of disgusting, harmful chemicals.

News stories trending on social media^1,2 claim that a six-year-old Happy Meal looks as good (bad?) as the day it came out of the hoppers at Mickey D’s.  Says Jennifer Lovdahl, the owner of the meal:

“We did this experiment to show our patients how unhealthy this ‘food’ is.  Especially our growing children! There are so many chemicals in this food!  Choose real food!  Apples, bananas, carrots, celery…”  ¹

Well of course there are chemicals in the food.  Everything is made up of chemicals, including the apples, bananas, and carrots that Ms. Lovdahl adores.  But the Happy Meal not spoiling?  We already know the secret behind that.  It’s called desiccation.  In plain English, the food has dried out, leaving behind a poor environment for mold to grow.

If you’ve done even a little bit of cooking, you know that the process drives a lot of water out of the food.  All you need to do to reverse this and spoil a meal is place it in a moist environment, such as a plastic bag.

Don’t take my word for it.  Try an easy experiment at home with some McDonald’s food.  My Fear Babe co-authors and I did this recently for our book.  The results are visible in the photo below.  On the left is a McDonald’s burger left in a plastic bag for approximately two weeks.  On the right, a burger left to dry in the open air.

McDonald’s hamburgers DO spoil. They just need moisture. (click/enlarge)

The plastic bag retained enough moisture to allow mold to grow on the burger inside.  The sandwich left outside didn’t spoil.  Our results have nothing to do with chemicals.  In fact, you can repeat this exercise with “healthy” chemical-free bread from your local organic store, and you’ll get the same results.

Why oh why are we still debunking this nonsense in 2016?

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”–Mark Twain

 

Image Credits
McDonald’s spoiled/unspoiled hamburgers by Marc Draco, from The Fear Babe.  Copyright 2015 Senapath Press.  All rights reserved.

McDonald’s happy meal news image from Lovdahl/The Independent, used under 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) There’s Something Freakishly Disgusting About This McDonald’s Happy Meal (The Independent)
http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/theres-something-freakishly-disgusting-about-this-mcdonalds-happy-meal–bk0AyF82pe

(2) Mom shares photo of 6-year-old Happy Meal that still hasn’t spoiled (Miami Herald)
http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article59297773.html

Dr. Mercola Brand Facial Cleanser Contains Pesticide

Dr. Joe Mercola is infamous for his zero tolerance policy on “harmful” chemicals (read: those not sold via his online store).  He’s pontificated about clearing an entire building due to a mercury spill smaller than the size of a tooth filling, so I find it ironic that after writing nearly three dozen articles on pesticide dangers, he’s selling a personal care product that contains…. wait for it… a pesticide.

Surprised?  You shouldn’t be.  Grab your credit cards and breathing gear.  It’s time for a shopping trip to Mercola.com.

Why look!  Here’s a nice bottle of organic facial cleanser:¹

Let’s let doctor Mercola himself describe some of the key ingredients in this product:

Partial ingredients list for Mercola’s facial cleanser, according to Mercola.com. (click/enlarge)

 

Neem oil is really interesting.  Mr. Mercola, if you’d be so kind as to elucidate:¹

“Neem oil is the unique ingredient which makes Daily Facial Cleanser clearly stand out.”–Mercola.com

Neem oil stands out, indeed:  It’s a pesticide used in organic farming!  You can pop over to your local lawn and garden shop and pick up a bottle during halftime of next weekend’s football game and be home in time to kill off a large population of the creepy crawlies in your back yard:

Neem oil, featured in Mercola’s facial cleanser, is an organic pesticide (insect killer). (click/enlarge)

If Mercola was here to defend himself, no doubt he’d say this is an all-natural, organic pesticide, and that it’s been used for centuries in folk medicine, with no ill effect. Except there have been ill effects:

“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 ²

and…

“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 ³

There are a lot more examples.  Don’t believe me?  Spend some time on PubMed.  True, neem oil can be refined to remove toxic components, but given Mercola’s aversion to refining natural compounds, that isn’t likely a recipe he’d find palatable.

But I’m not here to do Mercola’s research for him.   My goal is to simply point out that the fear mongering de facto king of snake oil salesmen rants, ad nauseam, about pesticide use and then, without blinking an eye, uses a known insecticide in one of his facial care products.  For the record, Mercola isn’t the only pesticide-hater hawking neem oil. His compatriot, the Food Babe, does so as well–in a children’s product!

This isn’t the first time we’ve caught Dr. Joe vending products that contain chemicals (or classes of chemicals) he says are dangerous.  Who can forget the dozen or more highly toxic chemicals in his Himalayan Pink Salt (lead or mercury for breakfast, anyone?), or the Joe-Banned sweetener in Mercola Brand protein bars?

When will the public catch on to the fact that these health care gurus are taking them on an costly, extravagant ride?  At first glance, the answer might seem to be “never”:  Mercola has over one million followers, and most seem to be so indoctrinated that no amount of evidence is ever going to sway them.

I have a more optimistic outlook, however.  There are billions of people who have never heard of Joseph Mercola.  Think of them as unvaccinated, and Mercola as a virus.  Now, what if skeptics such as you and I are a verbal vaccine?  If we can reach out to the uninfected–those who have never been shopping at Mercola.com–and warn them about what they’re going to find there, perhaps we can build up a measure of immunity and save them from this nonsense.

Food for thought.

Oh, anyone need any facial cleanser?

Neem oil has many uses, including the killing of annoying insects and, apparently, cleaning your face.   (click/enlarge)

Image Credits
Mercola.com 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.

Commercial neem oil pesticide 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.

Mercola in the garden parody image by the author, used under parody provisions of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law.

References
(1) Organic Daily Facial Cleanser–Mercola.com
http://shop.mercola.com/product/organic-daily-facial-cleanser,1030,488,0.htm

(2) 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

(3) 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/

PABAble Cause: A “Carcinogen” From Dr. Axe

Author’s note:  Sometime between the publication of this article (December 2015) and April 2018, Axe’s manufacturer quietly changed the formulation and relabeled the product reviewed here.  Axe has repeatedly ignored requests for comment since I wrote this piece, including blocking me on his social media pages, so I’m unable to say when the changes took place.  The screen snapshots of the product/ingredient labels stand testament to what was being sold.  I leave this article, with this correction, as a record of what took place.  In the meantime, Axe continues to sell products that contain the same ingredients he claims are harmful.  Just type his name in the search box in the upper right corner of BadScienceDebunked.com and enjoy the reading. — Mark Alsip, 04 Apr 2018, Lexington, KY

Original article follows:

When we last visited our good friend Josh Axe, he was hard at work selling antimatter-laden miracle dirt to unsuspecting customers, with the claim it would sweep toxins out of their bodies while simultaneously delivering vital nutrients. (Yes, I was confused too.)

Today I’d like to take a look at another product being peddled by “Dr.” Axe. If you read to the end, I can guarantee you’ll be outraged.  The hypocrisy could not be more blatant.

The topic of the day–and don’t be scared by the long words–is para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA).  Let’s start off with Josh Axe giving us a quick backgrounder on PABA:¹

“A recent study published in Environmental Science Technology has also shown the common sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone, methoxycinnamate, and PABA are estrogenic chemicals linked to cancer. That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too.” ¹

(Emphasis mine.)  So PABA is an “estrogenic chemical linked to cancer”, Josh?  Hold that thought, and let’s go shopping at draxe.com.  You might want to put on some older clothing. This is going to get messy.

Here’s a nice vitamin B supplement:²

Dr. Axe Vitamin B supplement. (click/enlarge)

If you’ve read my blog before, having seen me highlight Josh’s disdain for PABA followed by a screen snapshot of a product he’s selling, you’ve probably guessed where this article is heading.  You won’t be disappointed.  Time to have a look-see at what’s actually in the supplement Axe is hawking:²

Dr. Axe’s supplement contains PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid), the very same compound he just linked to cancer. (click/enlarge)

Oh, good grief…  this supplement contains PABA!  Para-aminobenzoic acid.  The cancer-causing boogeyman of Josh Axe’s nightmares: on sale now for only $39.99 on the Dr. Axe web site (you save $11.25!).

This would almost be comical if not for the fact that in the same sentence in which Axe attacked PABA, he said:

“That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too.”¹

So there you have it.  Here’s a chiropractor/”natural medicine doctor” who warns his followers to avoid putting a chemical on their bodies due to cancer concerns, sells them that very same compound in a supplement they’re supposed to ingest, and in the same breath tells them he reads product labels to avoid putting dangerous product on or in his body.

The mind boggles.

 

Image Credits
Josh Axe product and website 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.

Axe “look at that” parody by the author.  Created and used under parody/education/public health knowledge provisions of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (commonly known as “fair use law”).

References
(1) 75% of Sunscreens Are Toxic: What To Do Instead
http://draxe.com/75-of-sunscreens-are-toxic-what-to-do-instead/

(2) Dr. Axe Vitamin B Complex
Ancient Nutrients Vitamin B Complex | Capsules (60 Capsules)

Food Babe Selling Another Product She Says May Give You Leukemia

Happy Friday!  As is our custom here at Bad Science Debunked, Friday means a freshly printed paycheck has been pocketed, which in turn leads to yet another shopping spree at FoodBabe.com.  Those of you who have followed this series for any length of time are aware that we’ve had some amazing finds.  If you’re a first-timer, let me caution you that we evaluate the safety of our prospective purchases according to rules set forth by Vani Hari (the Food Babe) herself.  For example…

In her article, “Holistic Hair Care–How & Why”,¹ the Food Babe makes an amazing claim about the safety of Aubrey Organics hair care products.  In doing so, Hari’s mouth writes a check that a certain product label can’t cash:

Food Babe claims that all of Aubrey Organics Hair Care products are safe. We’ll apply her own standards, and challenge that claim. (click/enlarge)

All Aubrey Organic hair care products are safe?  Alright then, let’s put on those Food Babe Investigator Hats^TM we’ve had hanging on the hall coat rack and examine this bold statement.  First, we’ll pick a product: perhaps this bottle of Aubrey Organics GBP Balancing Protein Conditioner.²

“Aubrey Organics Hair Care–They have the most fantastic products that all are safe!” gushes Food Babe. (click/enlarge)

Seems innocent enough, right?  Hold onto your pants.  And your credit cards.  With both hands.  Before we discover the hidden dangers (according to Vani) in this product, we need to take a step back and talk about hummus.

Hummus?

Yes, hummus.  (Thanks for asking.) Tell us something frightening about the ingredients in off-the-shelf hummus, won’t you Vani? (emphasis mine) ³

“Sodium Benzoate is another preservative added to commercial hummus – when combined with Vitamin C this can produce benzene that has been known to cause Leukemia and other cancers. It’s a small risk this may happen, but why should the consumer be put at risk in the first place?”³

Gee golly Bob!  Sodium benzoate combined with vitamin C can produce benzene and cause leukemia?  We’d better steer clear of this dangerous combination!

Oh, I almost forgot.  What about the ingredients in the hair care product that Vani is selling?  You remember, the one from Aubrey Organics, who makes those “entirely safe” hair care products? ²

Ingredients for Food Babe Aubrey Organics GPB Balancing Protein Conditioner. (click/enlarge)

The sodium benzoate could not be more clearly labeled; the same goes for ascorbic acid, a form of vitamin C.  For added effect, we have extract of grapefruit, a fruit rich in vitamin C.⁴  Here on this label, on a hair care product that received a full pardon from Food Babe  against any future charges of toxicity, we have the very two compounds that she links to leukemia in her hummus article.

But does Vani Hari receive a “get out of jail free card” because she wrote about sodium benzoate/Vitamin C cancer dangers in food, and we are instead talking about hair care products?  Answer: No.  I always like to let Food Babe speak for herself on these issues (emphasis mine):

Your skin is your largest organ!  What you put on your hair, is absorbed into your blood through your scalp and face. Nurture it, be kind to it, and most importantly LOVE it!¹

So there you have it.  Buy this hair care product via Food Babe’s affiliate link (finance her next vacation!), slather some sodium benzoate & vitamin C on your hair where it’ll be absorbed into your blood,  and find yourself unable to sleep at night from fear you’re going to develop leukemia.

Or, consider the fact that we’re now rapidly approaching a total of four dozen products  sold by Vani Hari that contain the same “toxic” ingredients she warns about.  Maybe, just maybe, a few people are eventually going to catch on to the fact that they’re being taken for a very expensive ride.

In reality, there’s nothing dangerous about this conditioner, or anything else Food Babe denigrates.  To the best of my knowledge, Aubrey Organics has a shiny safety record and I’d recommend buying their products with wild abandon, if you’re so inclined.

Just don’t buy them from Food Babe.

 

Image Credits
Food Babe and Aubrey Organics 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) Holistic Hair Care–How & Why?
http://foodbabe.com/2011/11/06/holistic-hair-care-how-why/

(2) Aubrey Organics GPB Balancing Protein Conditioner 11oz
http://www.aubrey-organics.com/ProductInfo/001.aspx

(3) Why Aren’t You Making Your Own Hummus?
http://foodbabe.com/2011/05/18/homemade-hummus/

(4) USDA Nutrition Database: Search for “Grapefruit”
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods