MORNING DISPATCH 8/15/08: Strokes, Risks, Babies, Cancer
Mice develop cancer after being predisposed to itA new study alleges that common skin creams cause tumors in mice -- but only mice bred to be prone to skin cancer that were pre-treated with high levels of UV radiation. "They applied the creams after purposely making the mice susceptible to skin cancer," says ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava. "So is it the cream or the pretreatment?"

The Organic Center is described as a not for profit advocacy group by their supporters in the popular press, which makes them appear to be a bunch of good guys who are interested in promoting good health through organic food. The Organic Center, however, is supported by tax-deductible contributions mainly from organic food companies and their officers, and the main interest of those companies is shareholder profits (as it has to be in our capitalist society), not improved consumer health.

This piece originally appeared in the Washington Times.
Soy reduces sperm count! Or at least, that's what all the papers would be saying today if soy were an industrial chemical (like one of the three phthalates just banned by Congress).

Killer hot dogs, the air conditioning in your car, cellphones, you will never leave the house if fear merchants like Natural Resources Defense Council have their way with your science education - and your wallet.
Fortunately, John Tierney at the New York Times is here to help and he asked American Council on Science and Health for help in itemizing the things that $200 million behemoths like NRDC want you to be worried about - but needn't be.

MORNING DISPATCH 7/25/08: Rep. Barton, Dr. Miller, Tomatoes, HIV, Meat, and Candy

From time to time, the Organic Center publishes State of the Science Reviews.

This letter first appeared in the Los Angeles Times on July 28, 2008:
Re: "Panel OKs fast-food curbs," July 23

Using the untimely death of former White House press secretary Tony Snow from colon cancer as an example, the animal rights activists misleadingly called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) imply that such a fate awaits children who are fed hot dogs as part of school lunches.
In an egregious attempt to frighten parents, PCRM today warned that allowing children to eat processed meats such as hot dogs or baloney would set them up for cancer later in life.

For coffee and tea drinkers, choosing a sweetener pink, blue, or yellow packet? became more complicated with the introduction this month of TruvÃa, billed as "Nature's Calorie-Free Sweetener" and that has made a splashy debut at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.
New York Sun came to ACSH for some evidence-based insight, cutting through hyped sweetness.

This article first appeared on July 22, 2008 in the New York Post:
City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden apparently didn't notice the scandalous revelations about City Council "member items" earlier this year -- at least, it hasn't stopped him from jumping feet first into his own no-accountability giveaway.