Disinformation

AHDB campaign condemned by The Vegan Society

© AHDB
Health

The Vegan Society: UK Government-Backed Meat Campaign is “Irresponsible Propaganda”

The Vegan Society has condemned a UK advertising campaign promoting the consumption of red meat, which has been launched by the government-sponsored Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). According to The Vegan Society, the Let’s Eat Balanced campaign is “irresponsible propaganda”, since it contradicts recommendations by health and sustainability bodies. The charity points out that NHS guidance recommends eating no more than 70g of red or processed meat per day, since these products have been linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer by the World Health Organization. While the AHDB campaign suggests eating meat as a source of protein and vitamin B12, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) says these nutrients can be easily obtained on a plant-based diet. Furthermore, the BDA recognises that plant-based …

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The Lancet

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Health

Media Wildly Misrepresents Findings of UPF Study in The Lancet to Slander Plant-Based Foods

Earlier this week, a study was published in The Lancet examining the health impacts of plant-sourced ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The results showed that while unprocessed plant-based foods decrease cardiovascular disease risk, ultra-processed plant-sourced foods may have the opposite effect. However, the study has attracted a slew of misleading coverage from mainstream media outlets, with some articles giving the impression that the UPFs in the study were predominantly meat alternatives. For example, a clickbait headline in The Telegraph falsely declared “Vegans are slowly killing themselves”, with the subheading “There’s nothing healthy about ultra-highly processed fake ‘meat’ products”. Unsurprisingly, the writer of the article is a dairy farmer. In reality, plant-based meats represented just 0.2% of the diets of the study participants, while foods such as packaged …

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Disinformation and Propaganda Meter that is hitting a full scale, showing a very high level of disinformation, overload of it, too much of it. Maximum value, off the charts. ,3d illustration

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Health

“Inaccurate and Misleading”: Health Professionals Condemn Meat & Dairy Campaign Backed by UK Government

The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has joined forces with Plant-Based Health Professionals UK (PBHP UK) to call out a government-backed campaign promoting meat and dairy consumption. The organisations have sent an open letter to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to highlight their concerns over the Let’s Eat Balanced campaign. Timed to coincide with Veganuary, the campaign advocates consuming meat as a source of protein, zinc, iron, and vitamin B12. But DAUK and PBHP UK say that promoting animal product consumption is “at odds with established scientific evidence on healthy and sustainable diets”, and have called for the campaign to be retracted. The organisations argue that the campaign’s claims are “inaccurate and misleading”, since …

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Freedom Food Alliance

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Studies & Numbers

The Freedom Food Alliance Publishes In-Depth Report Exposing Misinformation in the Global Food Industry

A recent publication by The Freedom Food Alliance, titled “Harvesting Denial, Distractions, & Deception: Revealing Animal Agriculture’s Disinformation Strategies and Exploring Solutions,” uncovers the extensive disinformation campaigns that impact our global food systems. This in-depth analysis demonstrates how such campaigns influence public opinion and policy, detrimentally affecting efforts towards sustainability and addressing climate change. The Freedom Food Alliance is a consumer advocacy organization founded by Robbie Lockie, co-founder of Plant Based News. The organization aims to increase transparency and accountability in the food industry by providing consumers with accurate, science-backed information while exposing misinformation. The report, which is the culmination of a year of extensive research, reveals the tactics employed by the animal agriculture industry, including the reported manipulation of social media through artificial intelligence …

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animal vs plant proteins

Image courtesy of The Freedom Food Alliance
Marketing & Media

Guest Post: Daily Mail Distorts Outcome Of Major Study Showing Benefits of Plant Protein

Robbie Lockie, co-founder of Plant-Based News, recently established the Freedom Food Alliance in order to counteract widespread disinformation in the media regarding the food system. In this piece, Robbie describes one of the myriad examples of information being distorted to fit the purposes of the mainstream narrative. A recent article published in the Daily Mail online was based on the “quoting out of context” fallacy and is particularly misleading because it quotes a legitimate, scientific study, but distorts its results to serve the author’s points. In her article, Health Reporter Emily Joshu issues a warning to vegans: animal proteins are crucial for healthy aging and a vegan diet is harmful for overall health. As evidence for these claims, Joshu references a study led by Tufts …

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woman with laptop

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Marketing & Media

Special Feature: Oatly and Industry Figures Fight Back Against Widespread Anti Vegan Disinformation

In an age of widespread deliberate and often systematic disinformation, along with more inadvertent misinformation, on all manner of issues surrounding alternative foods — health, processed vs unprocessed, sustainability, and detriment on masculinity, to name a few — plant milk leader Oatly along with several figures from within our movement are now saying enough is enough. It’s time to counter the narrative with some truth; “For the sake of our planet, the definition of healthy must include being both good for people and good for the planet,” Oatly urges. Disparage and enhance At the end of last month, Changing Markets released a paper titled Truth, lies and culture wars: The misinformation we face in pushing for a sustainable food system. The research, which has been …

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