Episode 243: Vani Hari: How to Stop Food Lies and Fight Food Corruption

Do you really believe that cardiologists recommend Cheerios?

In this episode of Habits and Hustle, I chat with Vani Hari about the lies that multi-billion dollar industries are feeding us every day when it comes to our foods. From misleading statements to paying for health associations to give their seal of approval for their products, the corruption in the food industry is enormous. Vani explains how it’s up to you to watch out for yourself and make informed decisions when buying food for your family. Not only does she provides tips on how you can do that, but she also shares some of the corruption she witnessed first-hand.

Vani Hari is an activist that lives in North Carolina and the author of the new book, The Food Babe Way, which guides 21 essential habits she taught herself to take control of her health. 

What we discuss:

01:17: How did Vani get started in the food industry?

12:03: How did Vani monetize her blog?

14:43: Who are Vani’s business partners?

19:27: What’s happening in the food industry?

24:38: Do health associations care about our health?

26:57: What is the three questions detox?

34:26: What is the difference between organic and grass-fed?

36:24: What buzzwords do you need to watch out for?

38:10: Why are American companies using better ingredients for overseas consumption but not in the United States?

46:18: How do Vani’s kids eat?

53:00: How can you eat healthy when you’re out and about?

56:47: Where can you find Truvani products?

Key takeaways:

• Our food is corrupted in America. Most of the labels we see on our foods aren’t worth much - they’re pay to play and multi-billion dollar companies have the money to play. For example. health associations are putting their stamps of approval on products in exchange for a large cheque. As a result, these companies are playing with our health as we trust these indications on food packaging as telling the quality of a product we are buying. We need to inform ourselves about what these companies are putting in our food so we can make better decisions at the grocery store.

• Most food companies in the United States are purposely feeding Americans lower-quality foods using lower-quality ingredients, simply because they can and the regulations allow them to. But when it comes to expanding overseas, these same companies have no issue using better quality ingredients to serve those populations to comply with their regulations over food. Thus, these companies do have the “winning recipe” for making better quality foods here in America but chose not to.

• You can’t take anything for face value when you’re reading marketing statements on a product’s packaging. Many of these statements can be manipulated to make you believe that products are a lot healthier for you than they are. This is why learning how to read labels and researching what some of the added ingredients are is your best bet for buying foods that aren’t harmful to your health. 

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To learn more about Vani:

Website: https://foodbabe.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefoodbabe/

Book: https://foodbabekitchen.com/

My links:

Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/

Instagram: @therealjencohen