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Consumer Freedom Daily HeadlinesConsumer Freedom Daily HeadlinesDaily Headlines from the Center for Consumer Freedom.
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Cardiologist Chef Debunks Salt Myth
2012-01-06 15:58:00 Has the tide turned for salt in 2012? Salt faces regular demonization from the media, lawmakers, and food police, with the hyperbolic Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) even calling it the “deadly white powder you already snort.” But as cardiologist-turned-chef Michael S. Fenster points out in The Atlantic, studies have not conclusively shown that a reduction in dietary sodium equates with a reduction in hypertension or its resulting effects. Fenster also notes that while this theory “makes for great slogans, off the cuff advice, and lazy recommendations,” it “also makes for poor publicly mandated policy.” Big Apple Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants sodium restrictions, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking into regulation after a recommendation by the Institute of Medicine. Many regulators (self-proclaimed or otherwise) are aiming to reduce sodium consumption by 20%. The average American consumes about 3.4 grams per day, while curr... More About: Chef
Junk Science in Spite of the Public Interest
2012-01-05 18:17:00 The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has long used hyperbole to discourage the public from consuming sugar and sugar alternatives—or really, any foods that taste good. (This is the group that deemed fettuccine alfredo a “heart attack on a plate,” after all.) Now CSPI is using the same tricks to frighten consumers away from a new no-calorie, stevia-based sweetener. The Wall Street Journal reports that CSPI is concerned that this sweetener may cause cancer, but the research CSPI cites apparently took place before the specific sweetener was even developed. But why let small details get in the way of yet another “maybe it’s carcinogenic” claim? If this refrain sounds like a familiar tune, you might recall that last year CSPI also linked 4-methylimidazole (caramel coloring used in some soft drinks) with cancer. The news media was quick to pick up the story, but often failed to notice what CSPI conveniently omitted– that researchers gave the rodents an ultr... More About: Public interest
There They Go Again
2012-01-03 23:30:00 Cash-strapped governments at home and abroad are looking again for new sources of revenue, and they think they’ve found a cash cow (yet again) in the soda tax. France recently passed a tax increase on sugar-sweetened beverages, which led one company to cancel a 17 million Euro investment in a plant in the country. The city of Richmond, California wants to put a soda tax on the ballot because, as one city councilman told the local CBS affiliate, “If we don’t intervene, we are going to see rates of adult obesity double in the near future.” Of course, the evidence indicates that this is yet another case of politicians appearing to do something for the sake of doing something. The biggest reason? A soda tax won’t reduce obesity. One study by researchers from Duke-National University of Singapore found that even a whopping 40 percent tax on soft drinks would yield a not-so-whopping 1.25 pound weight loss over a year. Another study in the U.K. found that a tax of 10 perce...
New Menu Excites Food Police, Not Students
2011-12-30 18:51:00 You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force him to drink. That old adage is proving true when it comes to improving school lunches. The Los Angeles Times recently examined the failure of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s introduction of healthy lunches. We’ve seen before the consequences of taking away chocolate and strawberry milk in schools, but now L.A. schools have taken menu changes in the name of health even further. The new menu includes vegetarian creations such as curries, quinoa salads, and Pad Thai noodles, which predictably drew praise from the misnamed Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). But are students really better off with fewer choices? The kids left hungry don’t think so. The problem, as explained by many students, is that the district-approved food is “nasty.” When faced with the new menu, it isn’t hard to see why two high school juniors conceded to eating more junk food now than last year... More About: Food , Students , Police , Menu
Video: Food Police Smashing Your Choices
2011-12-28 20:36:00 hWesQjECtVk More About: Video , Food , Police
Sports: The Next Public Health Crisis?
2011-12-28 16:20:00 Historically, the public health community targeted infectious diseases to which people cannot control exposure and transmission. The results are longer lives for most Americans. Of course, the fortunate success of public health also means that Americans who might have otherwise died of tuberculosis or diphtheria tend to die of something else (usually heart disease or cancer). Now, the public health community justifies its interventions in terms of public funds spent on so-called “preventable” conditions. The oft-cited costs to the medical system of individual choices are the justification for such heavy-handed policy proposals as salt restriction, “Twinkie taxes,” and chocolate milk bans in schools. If saving money spent on healthcare is the end-all, absurd policy recommendations can result. And most importantly, as A. Barton Hinkle “modestly proposes” in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, granting the public health community the right to take away some choices on “social co... More About: Sports , Health , Public , Public Health
Latest Study on Snacks
2011-12-23 15:51:00 According to the latest study: You shouldn’t eat nachos, ding dongs, or powdered sugar doughnuts. According to the latest study your brain is a non-reasoning blob of electrically charged gelatin that should be limited to simple tasks such as raking leaves and growing kale. Download MP3 More About: Study , Snacks
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 HSUSs 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
More articles from this author: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 1, 2 |
