Chicago won’t be following New York City down the path of soft drink prohibition, according to city Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mayor Emanuel also said he has no plans like those of his Philadelphia counterpart (and Shake Shack aficionado) Michael Nutter to introduce a soda tax. The evidence that soda taxes will effectively reduce obesity doesn’t exist — three studies predicted daily calorie reductions of less than one percent of daily intake— so there’s quite a bit to cheer in the mayor’s announcements.
- Biotechnology offers a chance to feed the world’s population, says a farmer from India who has seen the negative effects of anti-biotech activism. He noted a 2010 decision by the Indian national government to prevent approval of a biotech eggplant — which is a staple in the country — and contrasted it with falling traditional crop yields in spite of a global need to double yields in the next 40 years.
- Criticism continues to roll in for a dubious study on biotech corn. According to Nature, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has joined the European Food Safety Authority in panning the study which claimed that biotech corn was linked to cancer in rats as scientifically inadequate. Additionally, the ethics committee of the French National Center for Scientific Research criticized the public relations effort activists launched.
- CCF in the News: Agriculture media are taking note of an ad by our HumaneWatch project in Iowa that hits the deceptive fundraising practices of the Humane Society of the United States—not to be confused with any local pet shelters. North Dakotans, who will vote on an HSUS-backed ballot measure, are also hitting back with our facts.
- CCF This Week: In our daily posts this week, we thought that it was obvious that kids too young to drive are more familiar with McDonald’s logos than those of car companies, took note of a Wall Street Journal columnist’s warnings against looking at food advances in an always negative light, panned a New York Times columnist’s hope that two California cities could unleash a tidal wave of soda taxes, and scoffed at CSPI’s latest anti-soda hyperbole.
