Latest Articles

FDA Moves to Level the Food-Labeling Playing Field
New guidance should stop the organic ag/food industries from continuing to flout federal law

May 21, 2019  •  Real Clear Policy

The FDA is charged with ensuring that the labeling of packaged foods is not "false or misleading in any particular," as mandated by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. That ensures that consumers are not deceived and know what they're paying for.

In recent years, however, regulators' enforcement priorities have become distorted. In 2017, they sent a formal Warning Letter to a Massachusetts bakery for including "love" in its ingredient list. "'Love' is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be intervening material because it is not part of the common or usual name of the ingredient," it said.

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Regulators should embrace the Vatican's decade-old endorsement of GMOs
If regulators had heeded the Pontifical Academy's recommendations, the plight of the world's poor would be much improved

May 15, 2019  •  Genetic Literacy Project

Ten years ago this week, I was privileged to join a small group of scholars and clergy convened, from around the world by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences for a "study week," the subject of which was, "Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development." As directed by Pope Benedict XVI, its purpose was "to evaluate benefits and risks of genetic engineering [GE] and of other agricultural practices on the basis of present scientific knowledge and of its potential for applications to improve food security and human welfare worldwide in the context of a sustainable development."

The result was, especially for the time, a rare, constructive melding of science, technology, religion, and humanistic principles.

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Are You Getting Anti-Vaccine Information From Russian Propagandists?
The source of much of the misinformation about vaccines comes from Russia's propaganda apparatus, which aims to exploit Americans' fears to hurt the country

May 13, 2019  •  The Federalist

The spike in the number of measles cases in the United States is finally garnering the attention it deserves, as the number of new illnesses continues to accelerate. The number of cases in the United States now stands at more than 750, the highest number recorded in a year since the disease was declared eliminated in this country in 2000.

Public health authorities are justifiably concerned. Measles can cause permanent health deficits, and even death. Moreover, research by a multinational group of academics indicates that a measles infection impairs the immune system, reducing resistance to other pathogens for months or even years.

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A Scientist's Week at the Vatican
The outcome was a constructive melding of science, technology, religion, and humanistic principles

May 10, 2019  •  American Greatness

Ten years ago this month, I had the experience of a lifetime. I was one of a small group of scholars from around the world who were convened by the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences for a "study week." Our subject was "Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development." As directed by Pope Benedict XVI, its purpose was "to evaluate benefits and risks of genetic engineering [GE] and of other agricultural practices on the basis of present scientific knowledge and of its potential for applications to improve food security and human welfare worldwide in the context of a sustainable development."

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FDA Has Problems, But Too-Fast, Too-Lenient Reviews Aren't Among Them
A New York Times editorial shows misunderstanding of drug testing in the era of precision medicine

May 8, 2019  •  American Council on Science and Health

In its international edition on April 25, the New York Times ran a blatantly anti-Semitic political cartoon that portrayed a blind President Trump wearing a yarmulke being led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was depicted as a dog wearing a collar with a star of David.

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