What the Critics Are Saying About Paula Deen's Diabetes Announcement

When celebrity chef Paula Deen announced this week that she was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago, she heated up a boiling cauldron of controversy in the foodie world. Most of the commentary has been critical of Deen, who made her name hawking "Southern style" recipes that are generous with butter and fat and are often deep-fried.  The critics provide a microcosm of the country's current love-hate relationship with food. Some examples:

What they say: Deen is a hypocrite because she knew she had diabetes and continued to push fatty food. I'm ambivalent on this one. No one should have to disclose personal medical information unless they want to and Deen says she has never advocated that her recipes be the only things you eat. Rather, she says, moderation is the key. She claims she will still eat fried chicken, just not a lot of it. Diabetes experts also caution against concluding that Deen's diet alone is the cause of her diabetes. The current thinking is that in people who are genetically predisposed to diabetes, a high-fat diet and lack of exercise raises your risk of getting diabetes. But we don't know what Deen was eating every day, how much exercise she was getting or her family history of the disease. On the other hand, a lot of butter and cream and too much time on the couch is never a good thing.

What they say: Deen is using her disease as a marketing opportunity, a chance to rebrand herself.  This seems to be pretty standard in the celebrity world – and not just with chefs. Kirstie Alley has used her weight loss to push her new line of diet products. Many other celebrities have signed up with Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. Welcome to capitalism. My feeling is that as long as the message is a positive one – and in Deen's case, it appears to be – then there's no problem.

What they say: Deen shouldn't have signed up to push the diabetes medication she's taking.  Diabetes experts say the drug isn't a first-line medication partly because it's expensive, around $500 a month.  But Deen is hardly the only celebrity to hawk drugs. Even two-time Oscar winner Sally Field pushes drugs aimed at treating osteoporosis. Personally, I don't think the public good is served when drugs are advertised directly to consumers. Information in drug ads is sometimes deceptive and it's not easy for consumers to figure out what's true and what's hype. But Deen is just hopping on a moving train. And at least she's actually taking the drug she's pushing. 

What they say: Deen's food isn't authentically Southern. I'm from New England and the only thing I can claim expertise on is clam chowder but I think this is kind of a bogus critique. I am sure there are Southern dishes that are healthier than Deen's but she is authentically Southern herself so I think that makes her recipes authentic enough. By the way, if someone out there has healthier recipes within the Southern tradition, I would love to see them.

What they say: Criticism of Deen is just class bias. There's certainly some truth to this one. Haute cuisine is loaded with cream and butter and no one blames it for the obesity epidemic. Deen herself says her audience is largely people who are struggling with their family budgets. But I believe that you can have a healthy diet even on a modest budget. That should be Deen's next challenge: to give her audience recipes for healthy and tasty meals that are within their means.