Home > Relish Austin > Archives > 2012 > January > 17 > Entry
Sugar struck: Diabetic Paula Deen’s indefensible endorsement
By now, you’ve probably heard that Paula Deen has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and is now a spokeswoman for a once-a-day noninsulin injection drug, Victoza.
Confirming the rumors that started to spread widely last week, Deen told Al Roker on the Today Show that she was diagnosed three years ago and that she’s entitled to be compensated for her work with drugmaker Novo Nordisk, “just as you are for your work,” she told Roker.
The announcement comes just as one of her sons has launched a Food Network show called “Not My Mama’s Meals” featuring lighter versions of her food (they got to cook together on the second half of the Today Show segment), and she and both boys will appear in Diabetes in a New Light commercials that will start airing by the end of the month.
Now, I’ve stood up for Paula Deen in this space before after that spat last year with Anthony Bourdain, but this is indefensible. She’s a multi-millionaire whose cooking has likely led to the demise of her own health and probably that of countless others. And what does she do with it? She finds a way to make even more money from it, getting paid with the profits that Novo Nordisk is making off people who are far less fortunate than she is.
Deen is justifying her partnership with Novo Nordisk by saying that “I wanted to bring something to the table when I came forward,” as if all the other information about how to prevent Type 2 diabetes and other ways to treat it weren’t out there already.
Clearly, I’m not the only food writer disgusted by this news. Jane Black expressed her disappointment that Deen didn’t own up to the role that her own eating habits played in getting Type 2 diabetes and become a role model by changing her brand and taking fans, many of whom are struggling with diabetes or have a family member who is, with her. “Deen knows that even a mention of healthy, responsible eating could undermine her multimillion-dollar television-and-cookbook empire built on the glories sugar and lard,” she writes.
In an on-camera interview with the Times’ Kim Severson, Deen admitted that the doughnut hamburger thing was “taking it a little too far” and that you should only eat it once in a lifetime, just after joking that you can’t beat the grim reaper so go ahead and eat that pat of butter.
The New York Times’ Julia Moskin talked with Southern cookbook author Virginia Willis, who pointed out that we have always been quick to attack Paula Deen for using so much butter, but that we let Michelin-starred chefs get away with it. Having said that, though, Willis reminded us that Deen — and this announcement — actually gives Southern cuisine a bad rap that it doesn’t deserve.
In a video on the drug company’s site, Deen explains that she has cut back on drinking sweet tea, goes on walks with her husband and is sharing diabetes-friendly recipes as part of this partnership.
All you have to do to get access to those recipes is fill out a form with almost 20 required fields, including do you “feel guilty when my doctor tells me my blood sugar should be better under control.” (Note that there’s no option to opt-out of getting promotional and marketing information from Novo Nordisk.)
There’s something very sick about all of this that has nothing to do with Deen’s cooking.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment Categories: Food in the news
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By La Bolilla
January 17, 2012 2:05 PM | Link to this
Paula Deen does not put butter in anyone’s mouth. People are responsible for themselves. Your righteous indignation is misplaced.
By Type2DudeATX
January 17, 2012 2:47 PM | Link to this
as someone who was diagnosed with Type II 2 years ago, i took my doctor’s advice and changed my diet immediately and began to exercise each day, walking daily at first then incorporating more cardio and weights into the routine. the results, i lost 40 lbs and my A1C dropped precipitously to low 5’s. i take one oral med daily (Metformin) and my doctor is happy with my progress as am I.
Paula Deen is a joke for hiding behind this while reaping in millions off of her brand and not owning up to it. she could have saved countless people from further declines in health and still made the money she took in by being a face to the reality of a disease that is growing exponentially each year.
call out Roker on TV this AM showed her true colors. a insecure, selfish “B”!!
By Psi
January 17, 2012 3:29 PM | Link to this
…Except that Paula Deen’s health is her own business. Literally - she didn’t -have- to come forward at all. That she did in association w/ a deal to promote Novo Nordisk may leave a bad taste in some people’s mouths, but think about this: how successful do you think ANY action would be of hers if it relied on changing her focus and her modus operandi and potentially alienating those people who follow her show and cook her recipes?
Not very.
Instead, she’s not alienating them, but finding a partner w/ whom to promote a means to circumvent the ill-health effects. Certainly, prevention is better than reactive treatment…but if millions of people are going to say “wow, she’s changed. i’m not that interested anymore…” then is any positive to be perceived?
Similarly, in terms of the money she’s to receive…i agree. If she wants to be paid for it, that’s her prerogative. She might donate it; she might utilise it to promote more healthy eating habits, perhaps under an alias. We just don’t know.
It’s ignorance in action to suppose Paula is responsible for the health of millions of others; people want to pay for her recipes, they want to eat the food she tells them how to make. But she doesn’t hold their mouths open and say “you must consume”. If people are ignorant enough to follow blindly w/out contestation, they must take responsibility for themselves as all other adults are expected to do.
By George M
January 18, 2012 7:17 AM | Link to this
Come on people, this is America. Paula Deen can make money any way she wants legally, so come off the righteous indignation. Like the man says “Paula Deen didn’t put butter in anyone’s mouth.” McDonalds didn’t make you stop and eat unhealthy. You buy junk food and cigarettes and alcohol for yourself. Nobody forces you. Take responsibility for your own actions for crying out loud!
(I can honestly say that Paula Deen had nothing to do with me eating that 1/2lb. bacon cheeseburger at Fredricksburg Brewery yesterday! It was my choice!)
By Delton
January 18, 2012 9:23 AM | Link to this
Paula Deen never put a gun to anyone’s head and told them eat or die.
And what does her money have to do with anything? Would her actions be more to her liking if she were poor? Your words give us good reason to believe they are based at least as much in simple jealousy as in any other motive.
By Miss Meat and Potatoes
January 18, 2012 10:03 AM | Link to this
Agree that everyone is responsible for their own health and can’t blame someone else. But what disappointed me about the announcement was that Paula seemed to act like her show - and the food she makes and putting sticks of butter into everything - was kind of an ‘act’ for entertainment purposes. Basically she was saying she doesn’t really eat like that and has always stressed moderation. I have to admit I have watched her for years and have never heard her preach moderation - just the opposite when she used to scoff her healthier son’s preference for fish and salads. So that’s the part I have a problem with - again not that people should do what some tv chef does but I feel like she was sitting there with type 2 diabetes for years while defending being heavy handed with butter and sugar episode after episode. Kinda weird.
By Kay Marley-Dilworth
January 18, 2012 10:45 AM | Link to this
I agree, Addie. For as long as I can recall, Deen has embraced and championed what she describes over and over as the “Southern way” of eating: butter, butter, sugar and butter. For her to now try to make an about face and suddenly proclaim “moderation” is the rule of the day is ridiculous. The timing of her Today Show announcement with her partnership to be a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk and her son’s new gig remaking her recipes into healthier versions leads me to believe Deen’s priority is her bank account.
I don’t buy the notion that she didn’t feel she could bring anything to the table three years ago when diagnosed. She could have used her position in popular cooking society to immediately launch a healthier living/healthier cooking mission. Waiting until she has a fat check from a drug company in the bank rubs me the wrong way. And yes, it is Deen’s business what she does, eats and endorses, but at her level of celebrity there comes a certain amount of accountability for her lifestyle and the message it puts out to the masses.
By Emily Erington
January 18, 2012 12:03 PM | Link to this
I think it’s sick that the big pharmaceutical company got to her and threw a bunch of money at her. Type 2 could be REVERSED with proper diet and exercise. Big drug companies don’t want you to know that. My guess is that she doesn’t even realize. Eat butter and sugar, take drugs. Do you see a trend?
By joey
January 18, 2012 2:18 PM | Link to this
I think the point is not that she makes money off of setting an unhealthy example, but that she is profiting at both ends by endorsing Novo Nordisk. On the one hand, she is supplying unhealthy recipes that will eventually lead to diabetes. Then, if you happen to wind up with diabetes from following her example, take this medication that she’s being paid to endorse. It might be a little more palatable if she had a disclaimer at the beginning of her show indicating that some recipes may lead to diabetes, heart problems, obesity, etc… If she wanted to bring something to the table when she came forward, why not encourage people to exercise if they are to follow the recipes that she endorses, or eat her food in moderation? Of course, there is no paid endorsement for bringing that to the table. She has every right to make a profit, and every right to make a profit in the manner in which she is doing so. But does it make it right?
By Melanie
January 18, 2012 3:15 PM | Link to this
All due respect, I think you’re making a HUGE leap when you say that Deen’s cooking and eating habits “led to the demise of her health.” You have no way of knowing what Paula Deen eats on a daily basis; all you see is the image that is projected on the show. You also do not appear to take into account that type 2 diabetes has a hereditary link; Deen’s mother and grandmother both had it.
Frankly, I’m really shocked that as a feminist, you are publicly shaming another woman for the choices she has made about her body.
That said, I think it’s really gross that she has partnered with Big Pharma. But she is also a spokeperson for the odious Smithfield. It’s not like she’s got this great track record for putting ethics and scruples ahead of her personal gain.
By Bernie
January 18, 2012 4:46 PM | Link to this
I have had Type II diabetes for over 10 years. Diagnosis relates mine to Agent Orange in Vietnam. That said, responsibilty for my diet, exercise and overall health rests soly with me. The first is education and then doing the right things for me.
What really stinks in this story is when and how Paula announced her diabetes (after building up so much earnings based on poor diet) tied into her promotion of Novo Nordisk. Sorry, but to me the entire story stinks of greed, both individually and corporately. And no, a healthy diabetic diet is not just lettuce and carrots.
By Chef Chuck
January 18, 2012 8:24 PM | Link to this
Indefensible? Please. Paula Deen is a popular culinary celebrity who has worked for years developing a marketable public image. If she endorses a medicine for diabetics, then she should be payed, period. Why are so many people giving her grief for this?
Furthermore, Ms Deen is not responsible for the food choices her audience makes. Sure, I like some of her dishes (the doughnut burger is my favorite) but I would never actually prepare and ingest it.
If you have a problem with Paula’s dishes, or lack of moral center, simply don’t tune into her shows or buy her cookbooks.
Chef Chuck pittsburghhotplate dot com
By finewine99
January 19, 2012 6:52 AM | Link to this
I never watch Paula’s shows because the majority of my 61 years of life has been fighting obesity. She was obese and pushing fat foods. Her personality is fun, annoying and over the top at times, but many people like that. Drug companies are draining our pocketbooks on a daily basis and her alignment with one of them puts a bad taste in my mouth - but hey, it is what it is. If she continues losing weight and eating healthy, she (most likely) won’t be taking the drug anymore. It’s a medical fact that (the majority ) of obese people who are Type II diabetics don’t need insulin or drugs after they lose the weight. Wonder if she will continue to “lie to us by omission” if she stops taking THEIR drug?
By cowtown_horn
January 20, 2012 4:25 AM | Link to this
Deen taking the diabetes drug company money is hypocritical, period. No one forces anyone to stick a stick of butter in their mouth, agreed? This isn’t about that. It’s about her continuing to take her fat-lathered cooking show money while also taking drug money to supposedly combat a diet like that. And by the way, her son is shilling a show offsetting his mother’s cooking. So yes, it’s pretty disgusting how the Deen family is playing this out. And she’s had THREE years to pick this strategy. Well played, Paula. If nothing else, you have to admire her capitalism. She quits one or the other, or donates ALL her drug money & gets Novo to match it to fighting diabetes, she shuts me up. Her combined actions are indefensible, but no one will slap cuffs or drain her pocketbook for such.