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Poll: Do You Approve of Paula Deen's Diabetes Drug Deal?

One critic called Deen's recipes "a butter-lubed bobsled ride to Diabetesville."

Celebrity cook Paula Deen--the belle of butter-rich Southern cooking--dispelled rumors by admitting that she has Type 2 diabetes. On Jan. 17, Deen unveiled a partnership to become spokesperson for a diabetes drug marketed by Novo Nordisk.

Local health professionals said the announcement could help spread the word about the dangers of diabetes, but others weren't so kind.

Paolo Lucchesi, food columnist for Inside Scoop SF, criticized Deen for withholding the information from viewers for three years and failing to take responsibility for her cream- and butter-heavy recipes.

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"[T]here was not one modicum of regret or culpability for her entire persona and recipe encyclopedia, which is pretty much a butter-lubed bobsled ride to Diabetesville," Lucchesi said.

“It is hypocritical to have continued to very publicly promote entirely unhealthy food choices so vital to the management of diabetes,” Donna Shaft, a marketing consultant with Type 2 diabetes, told Fox News

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Chef Anthony Bourdain took to Twitter and said: "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."

No fan of Deen, Bourdain has previously called her "the worst, most dangerous person in America."

"I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it's OK to eat food that is killing us," he told TV Guide. "Plus, her food sucks."

In her defense, Deen said that she encourages moderation and held off revealing the diagnosis in order to think about it and "bring something to the table" when she came forward.

Some health professionals are giving Deen a pass.

"Paula Deen is a chef, not a health professional, and as such should not be held responsible for making sure that her recipes promote a healthy lifestyle--that responsibility falls upon each individual to do so for himself/herself," said Sara Sturgess, program manager at the Mid-Atlantic Nutrition and Obesity Research Center at University of Maryland at Baltimore.

"While it is unfortunate that Ms. Deen has developed Type 2 diabetes, the publicity that her announcement will generate may further the message that organizations like the American Diabetes Association, the Obesity Society, the National Institutes of Health and the Mid-Atlantic Nutrition Obesity Research Center have been trying to instill for years--that chronic excessive intake of high-fat, high-sugar foods over time is likely to result in the development of chronic illness," Sturgess told Patch.


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