The Cancer Council has blasted My Kitchen Rules judge and paleo pest Pete Evans for irresponsibly suggesting to his 1.5 million Facebook fans that they don’t need to use sunscreen.
“The science is clear, increased exposure to UV radiation equals an increased risk of skin cancer and this is from people who have been researching this for decades,” Cancer Council’s director of education Terry Slevlin told the Daily Telegraph.
Evans made the dangerous suggestion on a Facebook Q&A, in response to one of his fans asking what he used for sunscreen.
“Generally nothing as I keep an all over tan all year and don’t stay out for super long periods in the sun,” he replied. “When I go surfing like I did this morning in Fiji when I was in the sun for 4 hours then I use a product called SurfMud which is as good as it gets for shielding from the sun.”
SurfMud. As good as it gets? IDK, but not good enough to be listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, it seems.
Now, in the spirit of fairness, Evans did have something valuable to say about our relationship with the sun: that we really shouldn’t be lying in it for hours on end. But boy-oh-boy, does he have an axe to grind with big pharma.
“The silly thing is, people put on normal chemical sunscreen then lay out in the sun for hours on end and think that they are safe because they have covered themselves in poisonous chemicals which is a recipe for disaster. We need to respect the sun but not hide from it either as it is so beneficial for us, but use common sense. The goal is always never to burn yourself.”
Slevlin says the idea of sunscreen being poisonous is “inaccurate”, since apparently “bullshit quackery of the highest order” wasn’t approved by the PR team.
Evans hasn’t been responding to media to talk about his sunscreen stitch-up, but has been replying to Facebook commenters.
Last year, when Evans was in trouble for putting out a bone-broth for newborns that could literally kill them, the Dieticians Associations of Australia said it suggested he and fellow authors did not “understand the basic scientific and nutrition information relevant for infant feeding,” and that it was “another example of the serious dangers of following the health and medical advice of unqualified people.”
In short, apply the same logic here. Take your skin care information from years of scientific evidence, and not the 2015 ‘Bent Spoon Award‘ winner. (Hint: his name rhymes with Feet Bevans.)
Source: Daily Telegraph.
Photo: Facebook.
