The US FDA has caved into “pressure” from the powerful sugar and artificial sweetener lobby and issued a warning letter to Celestial Seasonings for using a popular natural sweetener in some of its teas. The letter indicates the FDA classifies the herb stevia as “unsafe”, even though it is a main staple sweetener in countries …
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Month:September 2007
Banning smoking works
Recent studies on the effect of the smoking ban brought in to Ireland in March 2004 shows a strong reduction in related disease, proving the costs of smoking. This does not mean a prohibition is appropriate, but definitely supports a public place ban and better information for consumers. Dr Edmond Cronin and colleagues at Cork …
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Torture isn’t justified
That’s my conclusion after reading an essay on torture by The Economist. The analysis indicates that generally torture is not effective or justified, though the argument that it might save lives is that of the devil’s advocate and does not stand up to ethical scrutiny. Its justification can only ever be self-serving and therefore unbalanced.
Parents are the problem with children’s diets.
Yes, we are. It seems only fair to note that children’s poor diet is a direct consequence of what they are fed by their parents. And if you don’t believe it’s a life or death issue, have a look at this story of the death of a 16-year-old boy who collapsed and died during a PE …
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Obesity 101
Its a nasty word, isn’t it? But most of us face it sooner or later. When its not really a problem we tend to ignore it, but once it starts to get out of control its sooo difficult to rein it in. It becomes a disease, both physiological and psychological. Whether for interest or use, …
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Stress worse for health than disease (again)
As we’ve said before “Many health and happiness problems today are related to stress“. A World Health Organisation report (published in the Lancet) on the largest population-based worldwide study that explores the effect of depression in comparison with four other chronic diseases on health state found that depression is more damaging to everyday health than …
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Pocket money reinforces culture of consumption
A recent study by Hibernian Life in Ireland shows that children are given substantial amounts of pocket money – € 10 per week on average at primary and € 20 per week on average at secondary. More than half of the children spend all of their pocket money. This indicator, coupled with the continuous stream …
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EU rates held at 4%
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 4% on 7 September, but it is not clear that they will not be increased to 4.25% soon. The ECB is reacting to the increase in perceived risk in financial markets, catalysed by the sub-prime meltdown. At the same time as the hold on rates increase, …
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Silent but deadly: livestock farming challenges transport system as top carbon producer
The UK Vegetarian Society has launched a great campaign to raise awareness of the link between diet and climate change. The society argues that farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s entire transport system. The ad campaign is backed up by a new report entitled Why it’s green to go vegetarian – …
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Green IT operations, contribute to profits
There are a range of ways enterprises of all sizes can bring down the energy use of their IT operations, and a new article points out the six best, from outsourcing IT operations to building green data centers. In Six Ways to a More Efficient Data Center, CIO magazine offers six ways to lower the …
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