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The premier food nannies, those folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), are at it again. Not content with disparaging all foods and beverages they don’t like, they’re now agitating to reverse a rule by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to “prevent states from using federal nutrition education funds to discourage soda consumption.” According to their legal affairs director, Bruce Silverglade, such beverages are “the only food or beverage directly linked to obesity.” Well, I doubt it.

Japanese scientists reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that the new transgenic rice designed to fight a common pollen allergy appears safe in animal studies. Transgenic plants have genes from different species artificially inserted into their DNA in order to improve their resistance to environmental threats or increase their nutritive value to humans.
The interesting thing about this is that more and more plants will be produced to make pharmaceuticals if regulatory strictures are relaxed, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.

Yesterday s episode of MSNBC s new series Dr. Nancy featured Doctors Dean Ornish and Walter Willett debating the proposed tax on soft drinks as an effort to combat obesity. When Dr. Ornish correctly noted that taxing sodas alone among all the causes of obesity is arbitrary and unfair, Dr. Willett pointed out that Ornish had previously consulted with Pepsi Co. and proceeded to question his loyalty to unbiased scientific inquiry.

Brazilian scientists reported on Tuesday that they have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo. It is not yet determined if the mutated form is more virulent.

On Tuesday, the EPA proposed a $36 million plan to cap a deposit of the pesticide DDT on the ocean floor off the coast of Southern California by covering the seventeen-square-mile area declared a Superfund site in 1996 with sand and silt. According to Mark Gold, executive director of the watchdog group Heal the Bay, the cap won't clean the site, but it could reduce the health risks for people who eat fish caught off the Palos Verdes coast.

An article in USA Today (9/9/09) is boldly entitled "Sixty Percent of Adults Can't Digest Milk." First of all, this is incorrect because it is actually the lactose of milk that is a problem for some people to digest. The other two major milk nutrients, protein and fat, are readily digested by all normal humans. There are several relatively simple ways for those who have a problem with the lactose digestion to deal with it.

This piece originally appeared on the website of The American.
In an apparent attempt to sway at least one undecided Republican senator to sign on to his healthcare reform program, the Obama administration announced the initiation of a pilot program on tort reform, which the president alluded to in his recent speech to a joint session of Congress.

This piece first appeared on October 9, 2009 in the New York Daily News:

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has done Duhigg one better by actually ranking American cities according to how "toxic" their water supply is.

ACSH staffers would like to offer a seat at the table to Ken Green of the American Enterprise Institute for his article on the BPA scare.

An FDA panel ruled yesterday that the cholesterol pill Crestor can prevent heart attack, stroke, and death even among people with healthy cholesterol levels, since it also lowers levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation that can lead to clogged arteries.

Government health officials in Hungary are recommending that Santa should avoid contact with children in order to prevent the spread of the flu.
"H1N1 has prompted some unusual advice this season," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "This is somewhat whimsical. But it's true that the primary means of transmission of H1N1 is sneezing and coughing, so it's important to keep that in mind."

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.

A Grist reader heard about irradiation and wanted to know if food irradiation is good enough that we could go back to having rare hamburgers, soft-boiled eggs and unpasteurized milk?
Grist came to ACSH for guidance and we were happy to help. Now if only they would listen on GMOs.

This brochure explains the current status of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. It explains the causes for low rates of vaccine use and continues with a description of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases and their current immunization recommendations.

New York, NY -- November 12, 2009. The current "swine flu" problem is a reminder that the U.S. pays too little attention to the important broader issue of Adult Immunization -- and that too few adults are getting the shots they need, even though most kids are getting theirs. Scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) have researched and written a thorough, comprehensive report on this largely-neglected topic, available in three formats:

Reuters reports from the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America: "Every year, many patients undergo unnecessary computed tomography (CT) scans that are not indicated, exposing them to more radiation than is necessary, according to new research...The average amount of excess radiation dose per patient from unnecessary scans could mean up to an additional 20,000 radiation-induced cancer cases per year in the U.S., the authors wrote in their abstract for the meeting."

Senior citizens are questioning the H1N1 vaccine controls that have them prioritized below younger age groups, with some even calling it an example of healthcare rationing. ACSH Advisor Dr. Marc Siegel of the NYU School of Medicine addresses the difficulties caused by the vaccine shortage in today's Los Angeles Times.

Metro International reports: "[New York City's] law banishing trans fat took effect in July 2008 and touched everyone with Health Department food licenses including emergency food providers."

ACSH staffers were (almost) speechless when we found out that the New Jersey State Senate voted unanimously to restrict the use of e-cigarettes as though they were equivalent to standard, life-threatening cigarettes.
"This is a big step in the wrong direction," says ACSH's Jeff Stier, "because while there are no controlled studies yet, we know that many smokers are successfully using e-cigarettes to quit smoking cigarettes. And to treat e-cigarettes as if they are as dangerous as cigarettes is a huge leap based on no data whatsoever."

The CDC released its Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, a list of chemicals found in blood and urine samples collected from participants in CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The number of oral cancer cases among women in the U.S. has increased. The disease used to affect men at six times the rate of women, but women now represent one third of the cases, in part due to cancers caused by a strain of the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Yesterday, the EPA officially declared environmental carbon dioxide to be a public health threat.

Unclear Fate of Biologics