On October 18, 1969, Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary Robert Finch informed the nation that the sweetener cyclamate -- which was used in everything from soft drinks and candy to canned fruits and salad dressings -- posed a risk of cancer and would be banned. On this, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the announced purging of cyclamate from our food supply, it is useful to reflect on how "junk science" and hyperbole about risk led to this decision.

Every year, ACSH posts a list of commonsense actions individuals can take to either improve or protect their health. As part of our advice to exercise regularly, we emphasize that bike riders should always wear protective helmets -- which can reduce the risk of head injury by over 85%.
The importance of that particular piece of advice was brought home to me by a phonecall from a friend a couple of weeks ago. "Did you hear," she asked, "about Erica's accident?" No, I hadn't. "What happened?"

Restaurants -- fast-food and otherwise -- can breathe a sigh of relief, at least if they're located in Michigan. According to an AP story, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a bill that bans civil lawsuits against restaurants and other parts of the food industry for serving or preparing foods that supposedly make people fat.

"Take a deep breath: this is not an emergency," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans Wednesday. She was, of course, referring to the stunning announcement Tuesday that United Kingdom regulators had suspended operations at a Liverpool plant, halting production of some 50 million doses of influenza vaccine that were to provide protection for Americans during the upcoming flu season.

" ACSH endorses diet book." "Eat more food to lose weight (sort of)." "New York Times gets it right."
These are three sentences you might not expect to read on FactsAndFears. Yet you just did, and we meant it.

An October 5, 2004 article in the (Quincy, MA) Patriot Ledger by Sue Scheible looks at Marcia Angell's anti-drug industry book The Truth About the Drug Companies and quotes ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan as a counterpoint:
Elizabeth Whelan, an established author and founder of the nonprofit American Council on Science and Health, blasted back, calling the book "Junk-Science Reporting." In National Review Online, Whelan accused Angell of doing a "hatchet job on Big Pharma"...

An October 4, 2004 article in Brandweek by Sonia Reyes (mis)quoted (and misspelled) Dr. Ruth Kava from ACSH, but we appreciate the attention anyway. The piece noted that cereal makers are including more fiber in their products and aren't yet sure if kids will take to it:
Nonetheless, Ruth Cava, director of nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health, a non-profit public health group in New York, was impressed with the switch. "Whole grains has been a niche that Big G is now bringing mainstream," she said.

Dr. Siegel has given permission for us to reprint this important letter he posted to the Tp-Talk discussion group about tensions within the anti-smoking movement and apparent tensions among the stated goals of the American Legacy Foundation, which was created with money from the Master Settlement Agreement between government and tobacco companies, to educate the public about the dangers of cigarettes:

Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review wrote a September 24 TechCentralStation.com piece, "Delusions of Moderation," attacking embryonic stem cell (ESC) research. He criticized ACSH president Dr. Elizabeth Whelan and ACSH Director Dr.

Here at the American Council on Science and Health, we're releasing the fourth edition of our handy tome Facts Versus Fears (which inspired the name of our website, FactsAndFears). The booklet surveys the greatest unfounded health scares of the past five decades, from the "Cranberry Scare" of 1959 to current paranoia over PCBs in farmed salmon and thimerosal in vaccines. In between, scares have occurred with great regularity -- and precious little scientific evidence to justify them.