An April 29, 2006 essay from the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Perfumery Association in the British publication The Grocer, criticizing overblown health scares, quoted an earlier Grocer piece by ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan about the panic over the dye Sudan 1:
During the Sudan 1 food scare last year, for example, expert opinion quickly put the tiny amounts present in food into perspective. Our polling found that 40% of people were not at all afraid of developing cancer as a result of consuming an affected product and only 3% said they were very afraid. However, a huge product recall operation was launched...Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, suggested that instead of informing consumers that the risk was purely hypothetical, the Food Standards Agency hyped it up."
It has been suggested that the FSA was particularly worried about losing a position of growing public trust. It attempted to show it could act in the name of precaution to restore public confidence - and yet, arguably, achieved the opposite.
See also: ACSH's report on health claims against cosmetics.
