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Whole Foods Pulls Real Housewife's Potentially Toxic Drink From Shelves
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Sep 2, 2011
Modified Sep 2, 2011
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By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Sep 2, 2011
Modified Sep 2, 2011
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Whole Foods has pulled the plug on ex-Real Housewife of NYC/bare-naked diet guru Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl Margarita, which contains a potentially carcinogenic preservative.
Skinnygirl, which Frankel markets as full of "natural flavors and lightly sweetened with agave," also contains sodium benzoate, which can become carcinogenic when mixed with vitamin C. "After discovering that [Skinnygirl Margarita] contains a preservative that does not meet our quality standards, we have had to stop selling it," said the store in a statement. A Whole Foods source told Huffington Post “The store prides itself in selling the best quality whole products that our high-end consumers expect. Not novelty products that are shaded with secrecy.” A rep for the drink said it has "extremely low levels" of sodium benzoate, which is a "very common" preservative, used in most soft drinks. On its own is not considered a carcinogen, and person would have to consume "a huge amount of it" to hit toxic levels.
Frankel herself remained unfazed, telling Access Hollywood "I'm not making wheatgrass here. If I could put an agave plant and some limes on a shelf I would. [The Skinnygirl Margarita] is as close to nature as possible, while still being a shelf-stable product...We were bound to piss someone off and everyone loves to try to tear down a success. This is a non-event. I haven’t lost even a wink of sleep.”
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bethenny frankel
food safety
margarita
preservative
rhonyc
skinnygirl
sodium benzoate
toxic
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