food and nutrition

April 2, 2008 -- New York, NY. scientists' ties to industry and point to a Scientific progress has long benefited from collaboration between science and business -- so concludes a new report from the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a non-...

¢A March 23, 2008 piece by Denise Mann on WebMD quoted Dr. Ruth Kava on ACSH's review of articial sweeteners: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56064.

¢A brief letter from Dr. Gilbert Ross about the FDA's finding of no danger from 1,4-dioxane appeared in the March 23, 2008 Los Angeles Times under the title "Toxicant Finding No Basis for Worry."

¢Family-Medical.blogspot.com mentioned ACSH as a counterpoint to CSPI in its March 2008 list of useful nutrition resources.

¢The March 2008 issue of Reason contained Todd Seavey's cover article on exaggerations about nanotech, "Neither Gods nor Goo."

¢The ShopFloor.org blog piece "Fifty AGs, 50 State Standards"...

For many people, the concept of drinking unpasteurized milk may seem foreign. After all, you cannot legally purchase raw milk in eighteen states, and in four others it can only be purchased as pet food. Even if you could purchase raw milk in your local grocery store, would you want to? Hasn't raw milk been recognized as a microbial hazard since pasteurization began in the 1920s? Apparently not, since there seems to be a growing interest in drinking raw milk, as noted in a recent Boston Globe article.

What is drawing people to raw dairy products? If you have ever had the opportunity to sample fresh milk straight from the cow or unpasteurized cheese from Europe, you...

It's a pretty sad state of affairs when grocery sellers decide to market their wares by kowtowing to consumer fears. But that's what seems to be happening now. Wal-Mart has decided not to sell milk from cows that have been treated with rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin, or growth hormone) -- even though the FDA has said more than once that milk from such cows is no different from any other milk. Now the Kroger company is planning to do the same, and in addition the company wants to label the milk as not from rBST-treated cows.

Of course, no one adds BST to milk...

It would be hard to argue against the benefits of pharmaceuticals. Their development and use has led to life-prolonging effects such as lowering many people's blood pressure and cholesterol, boosting the immune system of HIV positive patients, and even the remission of some types of cancer. But what happens when these drugs we have so come to depend on contain ingredients, often made in remote regions of the world, that may actually harm us? We may ask ourselves, who is protecting us? And whose job is it to ensure drug safety: the pharmaceutical companies or the government?

Recently, health regulators identified a contaminant found in batches of Baxter International Inc.'s blood-thinner heparin, produced in China,...

To the Editor:

The article about expanding the pool of influenza vaccine candidates to those aged six months to seventeen years might distract parents' attention from the real benefits of getting their kids vaccinated ("Advisory on more kids' flu shots spurs questions"). While the total number of youngsters who succumb to the flu is not large, and it is unclear how many lives would be saved by the vaccine, that is beside the point. The larger picture should include the prevention of severe illness requiring doctor visits, blood tests and hospitalizations, with benefits including relief of suffering and massive savings for the healthcare system. The highly likely impact on the 36,000-plus annual death toll among seniors of stopping the "snotty-nosed transmitters" from passing on...

Turns out the truth doesn't matter. The New York City Health Department is standing by TV ads that show children allegedly sickened by exposure to second hand smoke. Only problem is, the deathly-ill kids weren't actually known to be exposed to smoke. They were just stock footage of diseased kids.

But the kids in the pictures have the same diseases caused by second-hand smoke, so that's good enough for the Health Department.

It wouldn't be good enough, though, for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) according to the president of the American Academy of Advertising.

"If they were selling a commercial product, the FTC would surely regulate this misleading ad," said Jef Richards, who is also Professor of Advertising at University of Texas at Austin.

According to...

Everywhere you look in the news this week, there seems to be something about sex. Whether it’s the Spitzer scandal, HPV and oral cancer connection, or the frighteningly high rate of sexually-transmitted disease (STD) among America's teenage girls, sex is on the minds of many. One thing that should be eminently clear is that sex (in all forms) can lead to STD infections, some forms of cancer, and loss of job as governor.

A recent national study released by the CDC, based on data from a 2003-4 national survey, found that at least one in four teenage girls nationwide has one of four sexually...

Enjoy a flavorful snack and lose weight at the same time? It may seem too good to be true, but according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, chewing gum might be the weight loss aid that dieters are looking for in a sea of weight loss gimmicks. For some, it may be considered a bad habit, but for the first time, it is being promoted by a gum manufacturer (Wrigley's) as a tool for managing weight.

For those trying to slim their waistlines, too much snacking can impede progress. This is where chewing gum can come in handy. At just five to ten calories per stick, gum can be a flavorful and long-lasting snack that doesn’t carry nearly as many calories...

It can be difficult for overweight or obese people to lose weight, yet many do so. What seems to be much harder is maintaining weight loss -- and the health benefits that can accompany it -- for the long term.

Dr. L.P. Svetkey and colleagues (JAMA 299; 1139-1148) compared different strategies for sustaining weight loss in a two-phase trial. They found that having brief, monthly personal contact with a weight loss interventionist offered a slight benefit over either an interactive technology-based intervention (a website) or simply self-directed methods.

Participants in the study were 1,032 overweight or obese adults (38% African American and 63% women) who had high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, or both and thus were at increased risk of cardiovascular disease....