Recently, the Ministry of Health in New Zealand moved to ban Hydro, a popular brand of electronic cigarette. In response, Dr. Murray Laugesen, founder of Health New Zealand, called for the Ministry to review its policy on electronic cigarettes, as such a ban is against the public s particularly smokers best interests.
In his open letter, Dr. Laugesen draws attention to a number of key points. As he points out,

In April of this year, the FDA rejected a petition by the Natural Resources Defense Council to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging. We at ACSH applauded the agency s decision, which was based on a research review finding that normal levels of exposure to this chemical used to protect canned foods from contamination and spoiling do not pose a health risk to humans.

And while we re on the topic of BPA, we d like to applaud ACSH colleague Jon Entine s recent exposé of the disconnect between public relations and scientific evidence that has resulted from uninformed public outcry over the chemical.

A new weight-loss program for kids has shown promising results and we re pleased to note that the program did not involve reducing the participants dietary levels of BPA. In fact, as Dr. Whelan observes, the pilot program for kids relied on entirely rational methods.

A hat tip to Lori Newman, whose article on electronic cigarettes is now online at LifeScript. In it, Newman discusses the benefits of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation device, aided by our own Dr. Gilbert Ross, as well as ACSH scientific advisor Dr. Michale Siegel, a tobacco researcher and professor of community healthsciences at Boston University s School of Public Health.

As the battle over the merits of sodium restrictions continues, a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to tip the balance back to the side of the USDA with findings that U.S. children are eating nearly as much salt as the average adult. Yet the contention that such levels are harmful remains dubious.

Announced last week by the World Health Organization and other health agencies, a new report on global childhood mortality rates has some encouraging news: They re declining.
In 2011, fewer than seven million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. The new figures show the continuation of a positive trend, as these rates have been declining since 1990, when nearly 12 million children in that age group died.

Last month, we reported on a study demonstrating the hugely beneficial effects of genetically modified golden rice that provided children in China with adequate levels of vitamin A.

Heart failure patients are more than twice as likely to be depressed than are healthy adults and what s more, depressive symptoms double these patients risk of hospital readmission and triple their risk of death from heart failure. It is promising news, then, that research just presented at the Heart Failure Society of America meeting has found that heart failure patients can benefit from a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and biofeedback.

It was no surprise to ACSH staffers and many New Yorkers yesterday when news broke that the New York City Board of Health had approved a mayoral regulation banning super-sized sugary drinks at certain restaurants, concession stands, and other eateries.