An Open Letter to Food Babe

Dear Food Babe,

{SIGH} It’s happened again. Someone is scaring the pants off of people regarding food, and it’s you.

One of my friends recently posted a link to your bread page on your Food Babe site on their Facebook page. As a diplomaed Nutrition Professional with a concentration on alternative therapies, I actually agree with a lot of what your points are about food. However, something got my proverbial goat and my “Nutrition Nazi” radar started beeping.

In this blog, you have boxes that show certain brands of bread with their ingredients. At the top of these boxes is the title, Avoid This Bread At All Costs. (emphasis mine)

Now remember, I agree with many of the things you are citing in these boxes and for the reasons you offered. But here’s the problem: language like that equates these ingredients to immediate, life-threatening danger. And while there is vast justification about working to get these additives out of foods for the general population’s welfare, eating that specific ingredient actually will not make you die in that moment. Sorry. It won’t. It might cause terrible health issues in the future; it might perpetuate a chronic condition. But I take issue with the importance you have placed on these ingredients as a grave, immediately-lethal threat.

In other words, do I want to avoid azodicarbonamide, a preservative that has recently been paired with the yoga mat in the media? Absolutely. Do I think that it should be removed from food? You bet. But a hierarchy exists in life, and EVERYTHING can’t take first priority. This is why I wrote the Patty Perfecteater analogy blog post.

I can actually think of quite a few things everyday I am going to “Avoid at All Costs,” over azodicarbonamide:

• Hating someone
• Yelling at my children
• Bubonic Plague
• Ebola
• Getting in a car accident
• Lying to a loved one
• Any other sort of intentional deception
• Intentionally offending someone
• Getting stabbed, shot, or hung
• Hedgehogs (long story…)

See, life isn’t about keeping a million plates of “dos” and “don’ts” spinning. Life is equally about wisely enjoying the ride in the body that carries us around and also keeping healthy in our relationships and inner self.

With great respect, Food Babe, here’s the deal: how about you dial down the language so people start listening to your really important words? As you continue to brand yourself, and get your wise words (I mean that sincerely) out about voting with your dollars and becoming active in causes that represent really bad stewardship of the earth, how about you remember that most people will hear you because you have successfully branded yourself and trust you? (Read your subscriber’s comments…you will see “I trust Food Babe” repeatedly.) These people deserve to be respected as the earnest, hard-working, making-ends-meet-as-best-they-can-and-will-spend-that-money-however-you-say friends they are. And–as far as I know–I have never scared the pants off of any of my acquaintances or friends to make my point.

Sincerely,

A Fellow Lover of Nutrition

[Ed. note, September 2026: Azodicarbonamide (ADA) remains permitted by the FDA for specified uses as a flour whitening agent and dough conditioner. The FDA has previously stated that estimated dietary exposure did not warrant recommending that consumers change their diets because of ADA. In 2026, the agency began a new post-market reassessment of ADA; FDA notes that reassessment does not mean it has determined the ingredient is unsafe.]