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TikTok and YouTube food creator Bobby Parish, who hosts FlavCity, is under fire for deceiving viewers by promoting products for financial gain. The influencer, known for recommending food products to purchase at grocery stores, is accused of suggesting companies and products that he has a financial stake in.
On July 10, 2023, a fellow TikToker Liam @theplantsant shared a video criticizing Bobby's videos which seem to frequently contradict themselves. He gives examples from the YouTuber's past grocery product recommendations, for instance, Bobby approves of Kiki Milk which has only 4g of added sugars.
However, Bobby had previously warned that added sugars in nut milk are bad, raising questions about the contradictory nature of these "Bobby-approved" products. Liam said,
"I have a new method to find out if something is Bobby approved, find out if he makes money off of it. If he does, then it is. If he doesn’t then it’s probably not."
The 43-year-old began his YouTube channel, FlavCity with Bobby Parish back in February 2013, sharing meal prep videos and giving cookery tips to amateur home cooks. He now boasts over 4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and over 1.2 million followers on his TikTok with over 12.9 million likes.
What did Liam say about FlavCity host Bobby Parish? Food recommendation controversy explained
Bobby was born in Chicago Illinois and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked in the finance industry before becoming a full-time chef.
He is married to a Bulgarian woman named Dessi, who is the co-founder of his channel and even co-authored his cookbooks. The happy couple are parents to 4-year-old daughter Rose Honey.
After watching Liam's video, TikToker Rob Lapham a.k.a. the Health Viking, added to the story by going through several of Bobby's videos. He claimed to find out that Bobby has partnerships with or is investing in every single one of them. Rob also claimed that Liam might have experienced some eating disorder due to FlavCity's recommendations.
A quick browse through @theplantsant's profile revealed Liam has been critical of FlavCity for its false proclamations and dangerous advice for a long time. In a June 2023 video, Liam called out Parish for giving wrong advice about using butter over sunflower oil while baking cookies.
Referring to FlavCity's videos, Liam said,
"I'll leave it up to you guys. Trust a man with no education in nutrition who sells supplements that arent third-party tested and gives dangerous medical advice or trust the research."
Several other influencers, too, have pointed out inaccuracies and fallacies in Parish's posts in the past including Rob, and @foodsciencebabe
Internet Users react to Liam's videos about FlavCity
As the news spread netizens took to social media to share some sarcastic quips and humorous comments.
Bobby Parish has not responded to the developing controversy at the time of writing this article.
