editorials

If it’s edible, it’s likely been fried, slathered in bacon or topped with cream-cheese frosting in Paula Deen’s TV kitchen.

That’s why the TV chef’s announcement that she has Type II diabetes — a disease linked to an unhealthy lifestyle — has whipped up a big batch of not entirely unjustified schadenfreude this week.

Fellow food celebrity Anthony Bourdain is among those who have taken aim at the high-spirited high priestess of Southern comfort food.

Art Caplan, the noted medical ethicist, has also weighed in. Their criticism of Deen’s deal to serve as a diabetes drug pitchwoman isn’t half-baked.

Deen made a career out of tasty-but-terrible-for-you cuisine, and now she’s going to profit from a drug to treat a disease linked to what she served up. And she waited how long to tell fans of her diagnosis?

Three years.

“Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later,” said a tweet from the always-caustic Bourdain.

Deen, 64, didn’t help herself by saying in her signature drawl that she doesn’t blame herself and that she’s “always preached moderation.’’

Funny, moderation isn’t the word that comes to mind when eyeing her recipes for fudge made with Velveeta cheese or a burger sandwiched between glazed donuts.

But the piling on by Deen’s critics ignores a critical point: No one was forced to watch her show. Or to eat the recipes she demonstrated.

She’s rich and famous because we bought what she’s selling.

It wasn’t just unhealthy food. It was a lifestyle elevating feeling good for a moment above everything else.

Deen’s success is a symptom, not the cause of the dangerous short-term-gain mentality plaguing our culture and political system.

Deen’s diagnosis serves as a reminder that the choices made today have consequences. That’s why she has a responsibility to follow through on her vow to do more than pitch prescriptions.

Medications don’t cure Type II diabetes. At best, they’re part of the arsenal — including lifestyle changes — needed to manage this costly condition.

If Deen truly cares about her viewers, she’ll become the leading evangelist for diabetes prevention, healthy cooking and personal responsibility.

A peek at obesity statistics might inspire her. Southern states are the epicenter of the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Deen, a Georgian by birth, has a moral obligation to use her considerable charm to help her family and friends. It’s time for her to become a force for good instead of a force for fat.