Center for Consumer Freedom

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.

Want to Turn Africa’s Red Soil Green? Try GM Crops

Hunger in Africa is a dire problem. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, there are at least 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who go to bed hungry. And about 41 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans live on less than $1 per day, according to the Hunger Project.

The Fear-mongering Industry Fights the Facts

There's no shortage of activist groups that make a living breathlessly creating scares about everything from fish to farming to french fries. Usually their tactics, though fundamentally flawed, are subtle enough to avoid scrutiny until the scare has run its course in the media. On the New York Times' Freakonomics blog, though, James McWilliams reports on some good old-fashioned intimidation tactics being used by the "organic" lobby and its allies:

Who Says “Junk” Food is Junk?

We hear a lot from self-anointed food police like those at the Center for “Science in the Public Interest” that there are “good” foods and “bad” foods, with most tasty treats always falling in the latter category.

Organic = Fattening?

Most consumers, whether they buy it or not, understand that "organic" is a label that refers to how food is produced. But many may think organic's "halo effect" applies to how fattening certain foods are too.

Experts: Eat Your Seafood (Without a Side of Scaremongering)

In the age of mass media fueled by scary stories, it's no surprise that environmental activists have been able to turn minuscule levels of mercury in fish into horrifying anti-seafood hysteria. But what about all the health benefits of eating fish?

BMI: Body Mass Idiocy

As we explained yesterday, "Body Mass Index" is a simplistic measurement of human height and weight used by government to classify people as "overweight" and "obese."

There’s Overweight, and Then There’s “Overweight”

We've long held that using the "Body Mass Index" (BMI) as a tool for measuring obesity is wrongheaded. BMI is a simplistic measure that only combines height and weight—ignoring muscle mass—which leads to erroneous classifications. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cast doubt on its usefulness. So it wasn't surprising to read yesterday that the British National Health Service (NHS), which measures schoolchildren's BMI and sends "warning letters" to parents of supposedly "overweight" kids, has made a number of big fat screw-ups.

Kids Reject Vegan “Food Revolution”

The Congressional battle over regulating school lunch nutrition has drawn the attention of a number of activist groups that are trying to influence what's on our kids' menus. One of them is the deceptively named "Physicians Committee" for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an animal rights organization whose membership includes less than 5 percent actual MDs.

Healthy Food Is A Matter of Choice, Not Price

The fallacy that unhealthy food is all that low-income consumers are able to afford is perpetuated by a new study by University of Washington researcher Adam Drewnowski. His team of researchers found that shoppers at the priciest grocery stores are skinnier than those of us who don't wish to spend our whole paychecks on organic bok choy.

Fitness Proof Is in the Presidential Pudding

Phil Vettel, the Chicago Tribune's food critic, notes a certain whiff of hypocrisy in First Lady Michelle Obama's food-focused campaign to solve Americans' weight woes. While she's preaching about access to fresh veggies, her husband goes on the road and happily noshes on wings, burgers, and fries.