Consumer Freedom Daily Headlines

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

Mercury Scare, From Portland To The Port Authority
2007-07-24 17:00:00
Everyone take a deep breath and repeat after us: "The proven benefits of fish consumption outweigh the hypothetical risks." Say it three times if you live in the Big Apple, where the notoriously food-nannying Department of Health and Mental Hygiene yesterday released its report on the blood-mercury levels of New Yorkers. Needlessly scary media coverage, of course, ensued (click here, here, and here for examples). But before you run screaming from your favorite Manhattan sushi bar, let's repeat once more: The proven benefits of fish consumption outweigh the hypothetical risks. Got it? Good. The apocalyptic New York City news broke in Port land, Maine, during the Environmental Protection Agency's annual Forum on Contaminants in Fish. We're in Portland as well, promoting a much saner view of fish consumption (supported by actual science). In Seafood Science Since Madison: What's Really Happening in the Great Mercury Debate, we've examined the scientific studies that have...
More About: Authority , Thor

CCF To 60 Minutes: You Like Us! You Really, Really Like Us!
2007-07-23 17:00:00
Last night, CBS TV newsmagazine 60 Minute s re-ran its April profile of the Center for Consumer Freedom's Executive Director. Unsurprisingly, the viewer response -- just like the first time around -- has been overwhelmingly positive, as anti-food-fascist Americans are flooding the 60 Minutes message board and our feedback section with signs of support for our freedom-of-choice mission. Some of our favorites:» read more
More About: Like , Really , Ally

Three Cheers (Not!) For The Nanny State
2007-07-20 17:00:00
The good folks at the Colorado-based Independence Institute sponsored a “Stop the Growth of the Nanny State ” party last month. And given what attendee and longtime freedom fighter Stephen Moore has to say about it in today’s Wall Street Journal, we’re a little peeved we didn’t get an invite. Of course, much of the event was just a chance for like-minded people to get together and participate in a bunch of politically incorrect activities, like cigar-smoking (gasp!) and trap shooting (double gasp!). But, as Moore makes clear, party-goers had» read more
More About: Nanny State

CSPI Files Already Expired Lawsuit
2007-05-16 17:00:00
Wondering if the food police are more concerned with self-promotion than with public health? Here's your answer. This morning the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) sued Burger King over "alarming levels of trans fat" found in its food. Here's the rub: CSPI's charges are nearly identical to those in its other trans-fat lawsuit, which was thrown out of court two weeks ago:» read more
More About: Lawsuit , Files , Ready , Suit

Gotham Lawmakers: Freedom And Fun Are Hazardous To Your Health
2007-05-15 17:00:00
As part of its ongoing attempt to regulate the fun out of childhood, New York City's busybody City Council has banned metal bats at public-school baseball games. The ostensible justification: Metal bats make baseballs go too fast. While we normally steer clear of social commentary about sports equipment, the bat ban is notable because of the condescension (some might say contempt) NYC's lawmakers are showing for their constituents. As the City Journal's Paul Beston writes in the magazine's spring issue:» read more
More About: Freedom , Health , Make , Makers , Reed

Percolating A New Food Scare
2007-05-14 17:00:00
Forget reefer madness. Health activists are now saying that the real gateway drug is caffeine. On Sunday, Boston Globe contributor (and high school English teacher) Ron Fletcher offered his expert medical opinion on adolescent caffeine consumption, claiming that "it's a vicious cycle that can start subtly and lead to major problems, including illicit use of prescription drugs such as Ritalin." Yes. And 99 percent of Vicodin abusers were formerly big carrot-eaters as well.» read more
More About: Food

The Inside Track On Fat And Health
2007-05-11 17:00:00
Dr. Jimmy Bell can be counted among those who believe that it's what's inside that counts. And now he can prove it. Bell's team of molecular imaging experts in Great Britain recently discovered that about 45 percent of women and almost 60 percent of men may look thin from the outside, but internally these people -- nicknamed TOFI ("thin outside, fat inside") -- are packed with fat. So how does this happen and what does it mean? Bell explained to the Associated Press today that "people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim." These deposits congeal around the liver, gut, heart, and other vital organs, putting TOFI at more risk for heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and other conditions than people with visible love handles. Even though the health of TOFI may be in danger, you probably won't hear the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or food...
More About: Health , Inside , Track , Rack , Side

Animal-Rights Public Health Outrage Of The Week
2007-05-10 17:00:00
"Consumers have good reason to steer clear of fish." That's the bizarre verdict of Amy Lanou, a nutritionist with the animal-rights Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). We've seen agenda-driven screeds against scrod before, as when Bruce Friedrich of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal s was caught bragging in an unguarded moment about "terrifying [Americans] into not eating them." But PCRM's latest declaration comes with a scientific study attached (co-authored by Lanou). So let's take a look.» read more
More About: Health , Public , Rights , Public Health

A Bad Day For HSUS’s ‘Humane Wayne’
2007-05-09 17:00:00
We almost feel sorry for Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) president Wayne Pacelle. Yesterday's animal-welfare hearing in a U.S. House Agriculture subcommittee was anything but the love-fest he may have expected. First of all, we were there -- testifying on the same panel, telling members of Congress and the media about HSUS's hidden agenda. Then an immigrant foie gras farmer stole the show with his heart-rending account of being pushed around by animal-rights extremists. Finally, a Virginia Congressman declared in front of a packed hearing room that a key part of Pacelle's own testimony was flatly "false." Not a good day on the Hill for a man who says his group "has committed itself to political activity as never before."» read more
More About: Uman , Bad Day

Meet The New Animal-Rights Sugar Momma
2007-05-07 17:00:00
Would the most influential woman in the oddball history of the radical animal-rights movement take one step forward? Not so fast, Ingrid Newkirk. That role now belongs to Florida's Nanci Alexander, the long-time activist and Animal Right s Foundation of Florida co-founder. Her divorce from billionaire Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander left her with $115 million to play with (plus a Boca Raton mansion and some pricey NBA tickets). And play she has. Shortly after her 2003 divorce was finalized, she set up Nanci's Animal Rights Foundation, endowing it with $104 million in cash over three years (click here to see the payments).» read more
More About: Sugar , Meet

Judge Throws Out CSPI-Inspired Lawsuit
2007-05-04 17:00:00
On Wednesday the Center for the Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) received yet another legal smackdown from the judicial establishment, as Federal Judge James Robertson dismissed a CSPI-inspired lawsuit against KFC. Last year, CSPI's Dr. Arthur Hoyte sued the popular chicken chain for failing "to disclose the presence of trans fat in its food."» read more
More About: Lawsuit , Throw , Inspire , Inspired

Is Obesity Just A State Of Mind?
2007-05-03 17:00:00
Food activists love to blame "Big Food" for turning a profit from obesity. But few ever wag their fingers at those most responsible for the hype about the "obesity epidemic": the diet and pharmaceutical industries, which stand to gain the most from a population obsessed with weight.» read more
More About: Obesity , Mind , State , Stat , State Of Mind

Lawmakers Ban Fast Food, Common Sense
2007-05-02 17:00:00
The city council of small-town Cotati, California, recently extended its ban on chain restaurants by six months, and is planning on implementing permanent restrictions on outside vendors in the next few weeks. You can take a look at the "arguments" for the ban (read: self-serving nonsense) in the council's March 28 minutes.» read more
More About: Food , Sense , Fast Food , Common , Make

Consumer Freedom On The Opinion Page
2007-05-01 17:00:00
What do cabbage soup, cavemen, and calorie restriction have in common? They are all names of fad diets that severely limit the variety of foods allowed in the participant's diet. Doctors caution against these restrictive regimens, which almost inevitably lead to overeating, because they set dieters up for failure. But that didn't stop the Institute of Medicine (IOM) from taking its cue from crash diets -- like the New Year's resolution to give up all "bad" food (this time for real) -- when its committee members proposed extremely prohibitive guidelines for food in schools last week.» read more
More About: Freedom , Opinion , Page , Consumer , Reed

The Ins And Outs Of Consumer Freedom
2007-04-30 17:00:00
Shouts of "What's next?" are echoing from classrooms, bathrooms, and check-out lines as Americans wonder which aspect of their daily lives will serve as health activists' next target. Last week the Institute of Medicine announced a proposal to ban allegedly unhealthy items like carbonated water from school grounds. (Keep that Perrier away from my child...) City councils in Boston, Phoenix, Santa Cruz, and Portland want to follow San Francisco's lead in dictating which types of shopping bag can be offered at grocery stores. And prominent environmental activist and pop star Sheryl Crow wants a limit on the amount of toilet paper people can use.» read more
More About: Freedom , Consumer , Reed , Cons

Quote Of The Week
2007-04-26 17:00:00
Food activists have a long and illustrious history of bending (or flat-out ignoring) science to advance their agendas (Exhibits A, B, C, D, and E). But it's not every day that we catch one actually admitting there's no proof for his pet issue. Imagine our surprise today when the BBC quoted one of Britain's most vocal organic-only food activists:» read more
More About: Week , Quote

Cafeteria Food Fight
2007-04-25 17:00:00
Guard your lunch box: Today the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report proposing new guidelines for the food offered in schools. The recommendations group all food served in "competition" with the National School Lunch Program into a three-tiered hierarchy: the good, the bad, and the unwelcome. The immediate problems with this report are bountiful, but it's the future implications that are most disconcerting.» read more
More About: Food , Fight , Cafe , Teri , Cafeteria

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ... Yellow Journalism
2007-04-24 17:00:00
When the Chicago Tribune printed a story this month advising pregnant women not (we repeat, not) to remove fish from their diets, it wasn't exactly front-page news. But it should have been. Sixteen months ago, the Tribune ran a high-profile and irresponsible week-long series titled "The Mercury Menace." Reporters Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne warned ominously that Chicagoans were playing "tuna roulette" by eating fish "tainted" by "dangerous levels of mercury." The National Press Club gave them an award for their (mis)reporting. It's time for the Tribune to send that trophy back.» read more
More About: Journalism , Fish , Blue , Yellow , Yell

Scary Salt Science Needs To Be Taken With A Grain Of ...
2007-04-20 17:00:00
Yesterday a team of American researchers unveiled a study linking reduced salt consumption with slightly lower rates of heart disease and stroke. And while we've yet to hear cries of vindication from the anti-salt crusaders at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), you can bet they'll use the results to justify their heavy-handed "solutions" to the nation's salt "crisis." Before they do, here are a few things to keep in mind: The study's subjects were selected to participate because they had already been diagnosed as "pre-hypertensive." That means they were at an especially high risk of developing high blood pressure before the trials got underway. The actual number of heart attacks and strokes among participants was very small, which heightens the possibility that random variables or incomplete follow-up distorted the results. This is just a single study in a large body of scientific literature on salt. Others have found...
More About: Take , Scary , Need , Salt

Get Your Consumer Freedom News Fix More Often
2007-04-19 17:00:00
Okay. We admit it. Readers of our free "Daily Headlines" e-mail service aren't getting the whole story. There's so much news in the world of nutrition zealots, animal rights activists, meddling bureaucrats, and sinister trial lawyers that we simply can't cover it all in depth. But we still want you to know what's happening. Today we launch an expanded "news ticker" feature at www.Consumer Freedom .com to share a glimpse of what's on our research team's plates. A week's worth of archives is stored here. Tech-savvy advocates of consumer freedom should check back soon for an RSS feed.
More About: News , Your , Edom

Test-Takers, Test-Makers Get The Same 'F'
2007-04-18 17:00:00
In order to prevent unusually hard tests from misrepresenting students' actual knowledge, some instructors "curve" grades when the majority of a class bombs an exam. After unfairly receiving a failing grade for their nutritional knowledge from the food scolds at the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), West Coast consumers deserve a curve. The first clue that CCPHA's survey -- which supposedly tests a consumer's ability to select the healthiest choices among menu options -- was a poor barometer of nutrition savvy came when a public health Ph.D. (Executive Director Harold Goldstein) couldn't even answer all four questions correctly. Goldstein told the Los Angeles Times today that "you could be blindfolded throwing a dart at the menu board, and you've got a better chance at making the healthy choice." But his poll didn't offer participants a fair chance at making a healthy choice, because the options were not representative of menus which oft...
More About: Take , Maker , Make , Makers , Test

Canada Skewers Phony Animal-Rights Seafood 'Boycott'
2007-04-05 17:00:00
It's that time of year again, when the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) goes north of the border to bully the Canadian government. HSUS says it has organized a massive boycott of Canadian seafood as leverage to force Canada to cancel its annual seal hunt. (HSUS, by the way, was caught on camera last year ignoring the cries of a dying seal while filming its annual ice-floe fundraising video.) Last year we investigated HSUS's boycott claims; fully 78 percent of the restaurants and seafood businesses on HSUS's list weren't actually participating. (Click here to read our findings.) And now Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has done us one better, demonstrating that HSUS's phony "boycott" hasn't affected its chief seafood export to the United States -- the yummy snow crab.In an analysis of snow crab prices and exports that DFO shared with us this week, the agency concludes that "HSUS's claims about the success of the boycott are much inflated at best, bu...
More About: Food , Animal , Rights , Nada

Blame It On The Garage Door Opener
2007-04-04 17:00:00
You might not think of your fax machine as an enabler, but new research from the Mayo Clinic shows that convenience devices such as microwave ovens, remote controls, electric can openers, and e-mail collectively contribute to America's love handles. According to a study by Dr. James Levine published in Science magazine, the mechanization of society -- replacing physical tasks with machines -- decreases physical activity. Over the day the absence of these chores accounts for a 100-200 calorie surplus, unused energy that "potentially could account for the entire obesity epidemic."A similar study from the Cooper Institute in Dallas found that completing daily tasks without automated assistance (like drive-through car washes) increases monthly energy expenditure by as many as 8,800 additional calories -- the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of body fat. During a 2002 meeting at the Mayo Clinic the study's lead author, Steven N. Blair, said, "I think that inactivity is the major public-health ...
More About: Garage , Open , Rage , Door , Blame

Eroding The Meatless Moral High Ground
2007-04-03 17:00:00
Though animal rights groups self-righteously chow down on bean sprouts, tofu dogs, and nayonnaise in the name of animal welfare, the ideologically animal-free diet, like the movement itself, has thousands of skeletons in its pantry. Surprisingly, the number of animals affected by the production of a veggie burger is significantly more than those needed for a thick steak, chicken wing, or Thanksgiving turkey.According to researcher Steven Davis, a professor of animal science at Oregon State University: ?Vegan diets are not bloodless diets. Millions of animals die every year to provide products used in vegan diets.? Clearing fields for growing produce displaces entire eco-systems, and agriculture machines like the combine harvester shreds millions of rabbits, mice, pheasants, snakes, birds, and moles annually.Davis? research suggests that switching to a food system dominated by beef and dairy would save the lives of 300 million more animals annually than switching to a vegan system.A ...
More About: Meat , Ground , High , Less , Round

Quote Of The Week
2007-04-02 17:00:00
A tip of the Consumer Freedom hat to Frank Tate, who did a number on the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and its executive director Michael Jacobson in his column last week for the popular online news site Scoop. The whole piece is worth a read, but the highlight is Tate's dead-on description of CSPI's fact-challenged modus operandi:[S]o disingenuous has been Jacobson's claims that he has earned the rare distinction of being called various things in the media - ranging from the benign "Consumer Advocate" to the less flattering "Nutrition Terrorist," "Terrorist," "Food Cop," "Killjoy," "Food Fascist," "Food Nazi" etc. In fact, the latter labels appear with such stunning regularity in the media that few men could have been so definitively defined.Jacobson, to put it mildly, is guilty of utter disregard for the truth and scientific facts, frequently exaggerating figures and claims to advance CSPI's own agenda. ...Health claims or the converse, "un-healthy" claims, ...
More About: Week , Quote

Recalled Pet Food Kills Fewer Animals Than PETA
2007-03-30 17:00:00
We just came from a fascinating event at the National Press Club in Washington. At noon today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal s (PETA) vice president Bruce Friedrich did his best to implicate IAMS (a well-known pet food company) in a product recall related to the deaths of a few hundred dogs and cats. We weren?t terribly surprised when Friedrich had us thrown out of the building -- after all, we were there to remind the national media that PETA itself has killed far more animals than the tainted pet food. And in PETA?s case, it?s on purpose.This month?s pet food recalls made us wonder how PETA would react if manufacturers all committed to making their products safer by testing every single batch -- on animals. The only way to be absolutely sure dog food is safe for Fido, after all, is to feed it to some other living creature. (In fact, that?s how the manufacturer of the recalled pet food confirmed that the product was tainted in the first place.) But PETA?s press release ...
More About: Food , Animals , Pet Food , Recall

It’s As Simple As Saying “No”
2007-03-30 17:00:00
A new study on children's advertising released by the Kaiser Family Foundation has food activists up in arms. And, as usual, some not-so-surprising statistics have spawned invasive policy proposals that completely ignore the role of parents in kids' eating habits.The Kaiser study's major findings are that half of advertising during children's shows is devoted to food, and that a substantial portion of ads aimed at children and teenagers are for candy, snacks, cereal, or fast food. (Click here for the full report.) The accompanying press junket included some not-so-subtle threats of increased advertising restrictions from Senator Sam Brownback, and typical hand-wringing about the evils of the food industry from Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.But before we start banning ads that don't promote broccoli or Brussels sprouts, here's a reality check for parents: Kids are just that -- kids. If you want your kids to stop watching television ads, turn off ...
More About: Simp , Simple

Blame Canada
2007-03-29 17:00:00
Yesterday Cana da 's national public health agency adjusted its standards for trace levels of mercury in several species of fish. Based on recent science (click here, here, and here) that firmly placed fear of fish in the same category as other irrational phobias, we expected our neighbors to the north to encourage increased seafood consumption. Instead, Health Canada created new confusion by preaching strict limits on the consumption of a half-dozen fish species. True, the agency hedged its bets by allowing that "most Canadians do not need to be concerned about mercury exposure from eating fish." But this nuance will likely be lost on much of the public, who will be more frightened to put fish on their dinner plate in general. And that's decidedly bad for public health.Canada's maritime economy relies on seafood as a big part of its gross national product, so an edict to lay off the orange roughy and tuna sushi is unexpected, to say the least. Nevertheless, we're seeing the hand ...
More About: Nada , Blame , Lame

Canadian Headlines, Yesterday's News
2007-03-28 17:00:00
Today dozens of Cana dian newspapers ran stories on the latest gloomy obesity report. Headlines like "Obesity dooms Canadian children to shorter lifespan" and "Generation XL facing shorter life than their parents" frantically warned readers of the apocalyptic findings by the House of Commons Committee on Health. But despite the doomsday headlines, this report is not landmark, or even original. The "obesity will lead to lower life expectancy" claim is the same tired line that assorted scaremongers have been trotting out since it appeared in a 2005 New England Journal of Medicine study. Though frequently used, it's dubious at best.Because they used intuition rather than hard data to arrive at their conclusions, Dr. S. Jay Olshansky and his co-authors quickly recanted their findings, admitting to Science magazine that their "life expectancy forecasts might be inaccurate." Nevertheless, food activists continue to spout this claim, bringing much of today's news down to the realism stand...
More About: News , Yesterday , Dian

Ten Essential Mercury Facts
2007-03-27 17:00:00
OK -- you?re still confused about harmless traces of mercury that have always been in the fish you eat. A major Harvard study concluded that the health benefits of seafood far outweigh the risks. A study of over 9,000 British women linked fish consumption during pregnancy to high childhood IQs. And the federal government?s Institute of Medicine has advised against placing warning signs in supermarkets. But you still have questions. No problem. We?ve got answers.Today at our Merc ury Fact s website, we?re releasing ?Ten Esse ntial Mercury Facts,? a brief look at rock-solid mercury facts everyone should know. The bottom line: Eat more fish. It?s good for you. Needless anxiety isn?t. Click here to download your very own full-color PDF of this handy resource.