Post by Mel Mel on Jan 10, 2007 21:05:21 GMT
"CONSUMER" GROUP PROMOTES SUGAR, FAT, MEAT, ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO
Gayle Dean
January 4, 2007
The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a group of lobbyists masquerading as consumer advocates, recently attacked Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes, which advocates a healthy lifestyle and vegan diet.
Dr. Barnard's program is based on a major study conducted in conjunction with George Washington University Medical and the University of Toronto and funded by the National Institutes of Health. Recently published in the American Diabetic Association's journal, Diabetes Care, the study demonstrated that the vegan diet results in faster weight loss and controls blood sugar and cholesterol better than the ADA recommended diet, while also improving insulin sensitivity and reducing or eliminating the need for diabetes medication. In addition, the diet scored better in acceptability. Patients on the low-fat vegan diet were more likely to stick to it.
With close to 21 million diabetic Americans and at least 228,000 of them dying every year, that's good news. So why the attacks from the CCF? Simply put, they're a front group for the restaurant, junk-food, alcohol and tobacco industries, and they run elaborate media campaigns opposing the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, animal rights and environmental groups, on a regular basis. Founded in 1995 as the Guest Choice Network with a grant from the tobacco company, Philip Morris, the misnamed Center for Consumer Freedom has never strayed far from its roots. Consumer freedom -- or consumer health -- is not nearly so important to them as corporate bottom-lines.
According to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media & Democracy,
Anyone who criticizes tobacco, alcohol, fatty foods or soda pop is likely to come under attack from CCF. Its enemies list has included such diverse groups and individuals as...the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons; the American Medical Association; the Arthritis Foundation; the Consumer Federation of America; New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; the Harvard School of Public Health; the Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems; the National Association of High School Principals; the National Safety Council . . . Ralph Nader's group, Public Citizen; and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A quick tour of the CCF website reveals article after article dismissing reputable scientific studies that demonstrate the dangers of high fat, trans fats, high sugar, processed food, meat-consumption diets, the dangers of high mercury levels in fish, etc., and attacking advocates of healthy lifestyles.
The disinformation put out by the CCF flies in the face of both science and common sense. But that should be no surprise, since the goal of CCF is not to promote consumer health, but to increase the profit-margins of their corporate clients.
www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=18649
Gayle Dean
January 4, 2007
The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a group of lobbyists masquerading as consumer advocates, recently attacked Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes, which advocates a healthy lifestyle and vegan diet.
Dr. Barnard's program is based on a major study conducted in conjunction with George Washington University Medical and the University of Toronto and funded by the National Institutes of Health. Recently published in the American Diabetic Association's journal, Diabetes Care, the study demonstrated that the vegan diet results in faster weight loss and controls blood sugar and cholesterol better than the ADA recommended diet, while also improving insulin sensitivity and reducing or eliminating the need for diabetes medication. In addition, the diet scored better in acceptability. Patients on the low-fat vegan diet were more likely to stick to it.
With close to 21 million diabetic Americans and at least 228,000 of them dying every year, that's good news. So why the attacks from the CCF? Simply put, they're a front group for the restaurant, junk-food, alcohol and tobacco industries, and they run elaborate media campaigns opposing the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, animal rights and environmental groups, on a regular basis. Founded in 1995 as the Guest Choice Network with a grant from the tobacco company, Philip Morris, the misnamed Center for Consumer Freedom has never strayed far from its roots. Consumer freedom -- or consumer health -- is not nearly so important to them as corporate bottom-lines.
According to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media & Democracy,
Anyone who criticizes tobacco, alcohol, fatty foods or soda pop is likely to come under attack from CCF. Its enemies list has included such diverse groups and individuals as...the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons; the American Medical Association; the Arthritis Foundation; the Consumer Federation of America; New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; the Harvard School of Public Health; the Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems; the National Association of High School Principals; the National Safety Council . . . Ralph Nader's group, Public Citizen; and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A quick tour of the CCF website reveals article after article dismissing reputable scientific studies that demonstrate the dangers of high fat, trans fats, high sugar, processed food, meat-consumption diets, the dangers of high mercury levels in fish, etc., and attacking advocates of healthy lifestyles.
The disinformation put out by the CCF flies in the face of both science and common sense. But that should be no surprise, since the goal of CCF is not to promote consumer health, but to increase the profit-margins of their corporate clients.
www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=18649