Cancer patient became malnourished after being given 'dangerous' diet information by wellness guru

Social media influencers pushing extreme choices such as liver or fruit-only diets can drive misleading information. Picture: Denis Minihane

A cancer patient in his 60s was given dangerously incorrect diet information by a self-described “wellness guru”, causing him to lose 20% body weight and become severely malnourished, a nutrition conference has heard.

Misinformation shared about food online needs to be tackled by health experts as it puts the public at risk, the conference hosted by food awareness body SafeFood and other nutrition groups was told.