Penguin Publishing (Australia) To Pay Fine Over Belle Gibson’s “The Whole Pantry”

Penguin Publishing will pay $30,000 Australian as a “contribution” to an Australian consumer affairs regulatory body.  The regulatory body, Consumer Affairs Victoria, found that Penguin published The Whole Pantry, a cookbook by blogger Belle Gibson, who made numerous statements about her recovery from cancer and the role of diet and therapy which she documented in the book, without appropriately fact-checking her claims.  As it turns out, Ms. Gibson never had cancer.  Consumer Affairs Victoria indicated that Penguin had asked Ms. Gibson to verify her claims before it published the book, but that she had not done so. Because Penguin did not verify Ms. Gibson’s claims and yet published and disseminated the book, the agency found it in breach of Australian law.

Penguin Australia finally stopped selling The Whole Pantry in March 2015 and has refunded the purchase price to buyers who requested it.

The publishing house will also print a warning on future books about alternative and natural therapies. More  here from Consumer Affairs Victoria and  here from The Bookseller.  

Ms. Gibson herself now faces fraud charges.  More here from the Guardian.