food babe fraud – Fraud Files Forensic Accounting Blog

Food Babe Scam: Why Vani Hari Is a Fraud

A few months ago, I wrote here about “Food Babe,” the persona invented by Vani Hari. She is a pretend expert on food, blogging about supposedly dangerous additives. Some call her a “food activist,” but the truth is that she is paid for bringing paranoia and hysteria to her cult-like following.

I believe Vani Hari is a complete fraud for a multitude of reasons. The most compelling include:

Her lack of education in the field in which she claims to be an expert
She makes money from bashing companies and promoting “alternatives” which pay her through affiliate links or other advertising means (and these alternatives often include expensive, useless supplements.)

Is Food Babe a Fraud?

I have Facebook friends who regularly “like” posts by Food Babe Vani Hari. She has a cult-like following of people who listen to her as she screams bloody murder about all sorts of food. FoodBabe, known to some as a “food activist,” loves to talk about all the chemicals and toxins in the food we eat. Sounds great, right? We all need to be more aware of what we’re eating!

But it’s not quite so simple. Food Babe (Fraud Babe?) isn’t doing this out of the goodness of her heart. This is a business, people. Paranoia and hysteria bring readers, readers bring revenue. It’s just that simple.

I’m not against anyone making a money, but I think it is important to look at how that money is made and what actually makes the “expert” an expert. More particularly, is someone a blogger who claims to be an expert? Or is someone an actual expert who just happens to blog?

FraudBabe is a self-annointed expert (who as you will see, is no expert at all) who makes money via pay-per-click advertisements (you click on an ad, she gets paid), affiliate links (she makes money when you click and buy), the sale of her “eating guide,” and speaking engagements. Read More →