Center for Consumer Freedom

A Vegan Manifesto Wearing a Weight-Loss Halo

Neal Barnard, president of the deceptively named "Physicians Committee" for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), is hitting the road this month on a book tour to promote his 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart program. The casual observer might think this is yet another hardcover to fill up the self-help section. But if you know a thing or two about PCRM (or weight loss, for that matter), you'll quickly realize that-- much like Barnard's group-- this book is not what it seems.

News Roundup: A Phony “Watchdog” and Fishy Food Fears

August may be a traditionally slow news cycle, but we're lighting up the media. In Roll Call, a popular publication among the Capitol Hill crowd and DC policy wonks, we expose an inside-the-beltway organization called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) that masquerades as a nonpartisan watchdog. In reality, CREW is a partisan lapdog, taking money from the left-wing fringe and disproportionately attacking right-leaning groups and politicians. Could CREW get a smack on the snout from the authorities? It's possible:

First Lady Makes Much Ado About Produce

First Lady Michelle Obama made a splashy announcement yesterday with Wal-Mart and other supermarket executives regarding a planned expansion of fresh produce and healthy food offerings in 1,500 stores over the next five years. She lauded the idea, telling White House reporters, "Make no mistake about it. This is a big deal." But is it?

Who to Believe About Obesity? Use Your Noggin

Another day, another headline-grabbing study that claims to end the obesity debate. Today's newsmaker: Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health are claiming that meat, soft drinks, potatoes, and – oh right – sedentary lifestyles are responsible for the country's obesity problem. But this new study contradicts years of nutrition research that has come before.

BMI Report Cards Get Another “A” in Humiliation

One emerging feel-good policy for fighting childhood obesity involves schools sending Body Mass Index (BMI) "reports" to parents in hopes of educating them about their kids' weight. But like many heavy-handed instruments used by nanny-state bureaucrats to suggest lifestyle modifications, this one has unintended consequences.

Biotech Crops Could Crush Global Hunger

A founding director of the Office of Biotechnology at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the global food crisis could be more readily averted -- if only bureaucrats in the United Nations (UN) stopped tying farmers’ hands with red tape. Farmers, biotechnology expert Henry Miller says, need access to a tool that’s proven itself safe and effective time and again. He’s talking about genetically modified food crops.

Runners Outpace Obesity Hype at L.A. Marathon

What do a svelte marathon veteran and a 400-pound sumo wrestler have in common? Both completed the Los Angeles Marathon yesterday, and their personal stories are testaments against the conventional “wisdom” of anti-obesity crusaders.

Poll: Americans Oppose Big-Government Regulation of Plastic Bags

A large majority of American consumers opposes efforts by big-government bureaucrats to regulate the type of bags they use to carry groceries home. These poll numbers arrive at a critical time when cash-strapped states and municipalities are trying to plug budget holes with burdensome plastic-bag taxes.

Vegan Doctor Has a Beef with FLOTUS and Exercise

The leader of a fanatical animal rights group has singled out First Lady Michelle Obama for emphasizing the important role exercise plays in kids maintaining a healthy weight. Neal Barnard, president of the PETA-linked Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), implies that kids wouldn't need to move their bodies if they'd just stop eating meat. We can't help but wonder what a genuinely mainstream medical organization would have to say about that.

Pulling the Curtains on Another CSPI Scare Campaign

Better seventeen years late than never. The New York Times on Tuesday pulled the curtains on Center for Science in the Public Interest's (CSPI) 1994 scare campaign that caused movie-theater popcorn sales to instantly plummet by as much as 50 percent. It wasn't the popcorn itself that CSPI demonized; its target was the saturated fat content that resulted from the coconut oil theaters used to pop it.

Food Cops Have a Cow Over Chocolate Milk (Again)

Food activists are once again trying to justify a nationwide ban on a beverage beloved by children and adults alike: chocolate milk. Both nutritious and delicious, chocolate milk is taking a bum rap for a crime it hasn't committed.

Taste and Price Still Trump Nanny-State Menu Labeling

Restaurant menu labeling, an ongoing social experiment conducted by anti-obesity crusaders, has consistently failed to save citizens from themselves—which leaves us wondering when nanny-state calorie counters will call it quits and cut their losses.

Another Study Confirms Fructose Still Not a Health Threat

It's been quite some time since we've heard anyone say anything positive about fructose, whether as a standalone sweetener or partnered with its pal, glucose in sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup. Many people picked up on past studies of fructose and wrongfully tried to demonize high fructose corn syrup, so we suppose it's only karma that a comprehensive new review reveals fructose still does not contribute to obesity (when, like everything else, it is consumed in moderation).

Disturbing Trends in Eco-Bags

Big-government bureaucrats are already facing an uphill battle trying to convince cost-conscious consumers to give up their plastic bags or pay extra taxes. Now two studies reveal why America's green bag revolution may have some unintended consequences.

Patrick Moore’s Environmental Epiphany

For years, radical environmental groups like Greenpeace have tried to restrict consumer choice, especially on the issue of genetically modified (GM) crops. Patrick Moore is a former long-haired environmentalist and was an early member of Greenpeace. But Moore, an ecology Ph.D., has since had a resounding change of heart, as he explains in the Vancouver Sun:

Lead for Me But Not for Thee

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is an environmental research and advocacy group that specializes in sounding the alarm over toxic substances. When it comes to lead, EWG seems to have a zero-tolerance policy, as shown from this 2009 blog post on its website:

Locavores Gone Loco

One of the most popular trends among urban hipsters and self-styled foodies is “locavorism.” Locavores are food consumers who buy “locally” -- or at least within a certain local area which they've termed a “foodshed.” This self-imposed eating restriction is driven primarily by the romance of local farmers markets, but its supporters have thought up a variety of benefits to their food fetish. Eating locally supposedly helps local economies, saves the environment, and is healthier.

Newest Obesity Culprit: Potatoes and White Rice

Obesity has a new scapegoat, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says we’re supposed to eat three ounces of it every day. Uh oh: Time to eliminate those carbs from your diet (again).

Consumer Reports: Tuna is Poison (Unless It’s on Our Party Platter)

Consumer Reports magazine has gone back to the tired old narrative of warning Americans about vanishingly low levels of mercury in canned tuna. "Canned tuna, especially white," the magazine's January issue declares, "tends to be high in mercury, and younger women and children should limit how much they eat."

Britain’s ‘Bribery’ to Battle the Bulge

And now a lesson in carrots and sticks, courtesy of our friends from across the pond. Earlier this year, the British National Health Service (NHS) began sending home report cards to students it deemed to be overweight. But the soulless bureaucracy used flawed "Body Mass Index" measurements to determine obesity. So perfectly healthy and trim children ended up receiving letters scolding them for their baby fat.