Retract Recommendation to Fake Food Allergies to Avoid GMO Foods in Restaurants.

The Issue

Vani Hari's recommendation to "go as far as telling" a server that you are allergic to certain foods in order to avoid GMO's in restaurants is both irresponsible and incompatible with the "foodbabe.com's" mission to bring forward the truth about food.  It trivializes the plight of those who really do have life threatening food allergies and risks desensitizing food workers to the real dangers that allergen exposure represents for those with genuine - and often life-threatening - food allergies.  It is a recommendation that ranks truth as a secondary value, just below personal preference.  This is just the sort of ranking scheme that the food babe fights to undo in the food industry.  

I'm starting this petition because despite the foodbabe's claim to be an advocate of truth and transparency, and her implicit claim to appreciate the value of open debate, she has systematically removed many comments from the post in question that were written by concerned parents.  The food babe is surely right to emphasize the importance of knowing what you are eating.  I, like many readers of her posts, would prefer to eat some things rather than others.  But that preference is simply not as serious as the NEED that many people have to avoid eating foods to which they are allergic.  The Foodbabe wrongly equates the preference and the need, and does so in a way that is incompatible with her stated aims as a consumer advocate concerned with transparency.

This petition had 356 supporters

The Issue

Vani Hari's recommendation to "go as far as telling" a server that you are allergic to certain foods in order to avoid GMO's in restaurants is both irresponsible and incompatible with the "foodbabe.com's" mission to bring forward the truth about food.  It trivializes the plight of those who really do have life threatening food allergies and risks desensitizing food workers to the real dangers that allergen exposure represents for those with genuine - and often life-threatening - food allergies.  It is a recommendation that ranks truth as a secondary value, just below personal preference.  This is just the sort of ranking scheme that the food babe fights to undo in the food industry.  

I'm starting this petition because despite the foodbabe's claim to be an advocate of truth and transparency, and her implicit claim to appreciate the value of open debate, she has systematically removed many comments from the post in question that were written by concerned parents.  The food babe is surely right to emphasize the importance of knowing what you are eating.  I, like many readers of her posts, would prefer to eat some things rather than others.  But that preference is simply not as serious as the NEED that many people have to avoid eating foods to which they are allergic.  The Foodbabe wrongly equates the preference and the need, and does so in a way that is incompatible with her stated aims as a consumer advocate concerned with transparency.

The Decision Makers

Vani Hari and FoodBabe.com
Vani Hari and FoodBabe.com

Petition Updates