MORNING DISPATCH 10/10/08: Tobacco, Infections, HIV, and Rights for Plants
In the years since the 1999 Koop report on DEHP and DINP -- and the NTP-CERHR evaluations of seven phthalate esters conducted from 1998-2000 -- there have been a large number of new studies on possible toxic effects of phthalates. Many of these have been incorporated into the deliberations of expert panels, including those representing a variety of European Commission scientific agencies. The latest of these, focused on DEHP, appeared in early 2008.
After ten years of prominently posting nutritional information in its dining halls, Harvard University recently decided to remove the displays of each dish's calorie count.
We're pleased to report that over the twelve-month period ending in October 2007, ACSH's paper "Low-Calorie Sweeteners and Other Sugar Substitutes: A Review of the Safety Issues" by Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., Manfred Kroger, Ph.D., and Kathleen Meister was the twelfth most popular download on the influential online journal Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.
The summer of 2008 has not been very good for the organic food industry. Below is a compendium of this summer's news items, followed by my remarks.
This letter appeared on in the Los Angeles Times.
An October 2, 2007 post at Portfolio.com criticizing editor Neal Boulton notes his magazine's poor ranking in ACSH's survey of nutrition reporting:
•"The Scariest Health Threat You've Never Heard Of: Autoimmune Disease," from the September 2008 issue of Glamour, quoted Jeff Stier saying, "People want to blame chemicals where they don't have another explanation for the cause of a disease. I think we need more psychologists rather than more toxicologists."
•The September 29, 2008 New York Sun piece "Salt Is Next on City's Hit List" quoted Dr. Gilbert Ross likening New York City's anti-salt plans to the trans fat ban.
The willful blindness of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- its overcautious reluctance to approve new drugs -- has led to historic declines in new drug approvals, which will cost lives in years to come.
A more immediate tragedy, though, is FDA's refusal to withdraw its off-putting "black-box" warning label on antidepressants for teens.
MORNING DISPATCH 9/12/08: McDonald's, FDA, Botox, Helmets, Drinking Water, and Religious Diets
