'We're not doctors. We're not dietitians': Happy Pear apologise again for breast cancer video

‘We stepped outside our lane – we made a mistake’

The Happy Pear twins say it was "never [their] intention" to insult their viewers

The Happy Pear twins have apologised again after they “stepped outside our lane” in a recent video where they offered advice on ways to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer through diet.

In April, Stephen and David Flynn posted a short video to their Instagram page which stated that one in seven women in the UK and other high-income countries will get a diagnosis of breast cancer in their lifetime, versus one in a hundred in Hong Kong and one in a thousand in China.

In the video, the pair who are well-known for their Greystones cafe and shop alongside their cookbooks and food products which are sold in Centra and SuperValu, claimed that some of the possible factors for the discrepancy between the nations are “excessive saturated fat intake, excessive dairy intake and excessive animal products intake.” 

“Here’s five things to reduce your risk,” they said, going on to list a range of suggestions including eating a whole food, plant-based diet, eating eight to 13 fruit and veg portions per day and eating mushrooms and soy products.

'We made a mistake'

Speaking on The Ray D’Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 today, the brothers said they made a “mistake” with the video.

“We’re not doctors, we’re not medical experts,” they said, “but we do work with a lot of doctors.” 

The pair, who have close to 600,000 followers on Instagram, said they “understand the controversy” around the video and said they apologised if they “upset anyone.” 

“Our intention was quite the opposite, it was to try and shine a light on female’s health and we apologise if we came across in any way insincere.” 

The Flynns, who shared the video to promote a podcast, said they recognise now they “stepped outside our lane.” 

“We were ignorant,” they said, “we made a mistake.” 

“For anyone listening who felt insulted or felt that we were insincere ... we're really sorry. It was never our intention. We're not doctors. We're not dietitians. We're not medical experts. Our thing is to get you to eat more veg and we're really sorry.”

'Back to vegetables'

The twins say they have learned a lesson and will "get back to the vegetables" instead of offering health advice.

They also addressed their apology video, which was criticised by some for seeming insincere but which they say was due to them feeling nervous.

"I'm sincere: normally we're smiling characters so I was trying to be myself and be sincere without trying to put on a face or a mask."

They described the past few months as "a hard, challenging time" but added it was also "a great opportunity to reflect and be more responsible." They said they will "stick with our own expertise" in future.