Pete Evans is no stranger to trouble and has once again landed himself in hot water for actively supporting a new controversial study.
Results of a study published in a US medical journey concluded that pregnant women who drank water that contained fluoride gave birth to babies with a lower IQ.
Celebrity Chef Pete Evans came out in full support of the research telling the Herald Sun: “This has been known for ages, and this is just the tip of that iceberg.”
Fluoride Is Toxic
He continued: “Fluoride is a known neurotoxin and it should not be put in our water supply.”
“If people choose to add fluoride then it should be their choice to do so. I cannot wait for it to be eliminated from being added to Australian water supplies.”
Experts were quick to refute the claims made in the JAMA Pediatrics publication.
No Evidence!
Associate Professor Matt Hopcraft, the chief executive of the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch was derisive about the chef’s support of the claims. He spoke to news.com.au saying:
“I think we should take public health advice from the experts and he should probably stick to the celebrity cheffing and leave public health policy to the experts.”
“Of course Pete is going to jump on board and say this is the silver bullet — as a lot of anti-fluoridationists will — but overwhelmingly there’s no evidence to link water fluoridation with health concerns.”
What The Study Said
The study involved 601 Canadian children from six major cities born between 2008 and 2012. 41 per cent of those involved in the study lived in communities supplied with fluoridated water.
Analysed data discovered maternal exposure to higher levels of fluoride during pregnancy was associated with lower IQ scores in children aged three to four years old.
“These findings indicate the possible need to reduce fluoride intake during pregnancy,” the researchers concluded.
Questions?
However many experts are questioning the study methods and the concluding results.
“I find it hard to take Pete Evan’s opinion seriously when he isn’t a dentist who has seen kids with rotten teeth in the non-fluoridated towns compared to the happy, healthy kids in fluoridated areas,” Dr Kristina Cain, of Queensland’s Refresh Dental Spa told news.com.au.
“Dentists have a moral and ethical obligation to the community and its health and are effectively putting ourselves out of business by advocating water fluoridation. That has to stand for something.”
Dr Michael Foley, spokesman for the Australian Dental Association, said anything was toxic if you had enough of it – water, oxygen, calcium, iron, salt and even caffeine.
“Does this mean we shouldn’t drink coffee? Of course not,” he said.
Support
There were, however, a few who defended Chef Evan’s viewpoint:
Dr Mark Diesendorf, an honorary associate professor in the environmental humanities group at Sydney’s University of NSW said:
“I’m opposed to fluoridation also, I must admit, but I wouldn’t come to that conclusion (to remove fluoride from water) on the present study alone,” he said.
“There’s a lot of other related studies that are entirely consistent with this, in the way of developmental neurological effects.
“I would argue pregnant women and also women feeding with formula should not use fluoridated water. There’s enough to be worried. We are now at a stage where this is something of concern.”
Most recently, Pete Evans hit headlines admitting he’d rather his kids ‘have cannabis’ than drink alcohol when they’re of age.
Do you believe Pete has a point? Tell us in your comments below.
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