Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science

UPDATE: I have now reviewed some of the questions around this issue, in response to an e-mail criticising my approach. You can read the latest post on this here.

Jerome Burne - science journalist, and co-author of Holford’s Food is Better Medicine than Drugs - has allegedly been seen applauding Matthias Rath at a rally in London: you can find more info and pictures/video on the bad science blog.

I’ve been in two minds as to whether to blog about this - it could be seen as an unfair personal attack on Burne (and, by association, Holford). Then I was looking at Treatment Action Campaign’s site again, and their account of Rath’s behaviour in South Africa:

Matthias Rath, a wealthy vitamin salesman, began an advertising campaign in South African newspapers over a year ago. His advertisements claim Rath is a scientist who discovered natural health solutions to health problems. They also defamed the Medicines Control Council (MCC), accusing it of being a front for the pharmaceutical industry because it aimed to regulate the safety and efficacy of complementary and traditional medicines. As the year progressed, Rath’s advertisements became more outrageous. He eventually began claiming that antiretrovirals for treating AIDS were toxic and that multivitamins are a treatment for AIDS…

Rath’s defamation campaign and vindictive pamphlets and posters which contain numerous false claims are causing confusion in communities and support groups of people living with HIV/AIDS. TAC members are expressing concern that people who need to commence antiretroviral treatment are reluctant to start and people on antiretroviral treatment might not adhere.

Jerome Burne was apparently applauding this man, at a time when countless people are dying unnecessarily in South Africa because their HIV is not being appropriately treated. And, in the UK, Burne writes about how food is better medicine than drugs. He does this with another vitamin salesman - our very own Patrick Holford - whose views on HIV/AIDS have also been controversial.

I’ll be going through Food is Better Medicine than Drugs at length when I’ve got the time - but, for now, I’d suggest that Burne’s apparent support of Rath should make one very careful about trusting anything he writes about how food can be better medicine than drugs.

This doesn’t mean that Burne (or Holford) are necessarily wrong - by the law of averages if nothing else, I’d actually expect Food is Better Medicine than Drugs to get a fair bit right. What it does mean is that, if they do make a recommendation, I’d want to very carefully check that it’s accurate before acting on it.