The “What the Health” film that relies heavily on interviews with vegan doctors and advocates, features unreliable information hoping to trash the meat and dairy industries.
While there is no direct evidence that eating meat leads to diabetes, cancer, heart disease and a shorter life expectancy, the film bosses have attempted to misinform the public that eggs and milk could kill.
Alongside the bizarre statement the film also features several other claims. It states:
- People who eat 50g of bacon daily are at high risk of developing colon cancer
- Every second meat eater is likely to suffer from a heart disease
- Meat increases a risk of developing diabetes by 51 per cent
But leading scientists were quick to trash the claims saying that the arguments in the film are vastly overstated and misrepresent scientific understanding.
Alice Howarth, a cancer researcher, said: “The claims in this film vastly overstate and misrepresent the scientific understanding.
“What the Health overwhelms the viewer with scaremongering ‘facts’ which do not hold up to scientific investigation.”
Her views were backed up by Alexandra Freeman, executive director of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, at Cambridge University.
She said that the claim about one egg a day being as bad as five cigarettes was sourced to an “extremely controversial paper”.
Gunter Kuhnle, associate professor in nutrition and health at the University of Reading, said: “Apart from a few very specific dietary components (fibre, fats) for which there is a clear link with health, it appears that the old and boring recommendation of a balanced diet is still the best.
“Of course obesity is a problem — but it doesn’t matter this much whether the accumulated fat is from animals or plants.”
It’s not the first time the “What the Health” producers are attacking the meat industry. Back in 2014, Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn released a similar film that featured celebrities throwing false accusations at meat-eaters.
