FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For approximately a century, industry has been a powerful motivating force in the creation of new technology and the underwriting of scientific research.

April 2, 2008 -- New York, NY. scientists' ties to indus

¢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.

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?

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.

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?

To the Editor:

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.

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.

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.