Veil of science belies corporate interests

IN A report headlined ‘Scaremongering stars show no sense about science’ (Irish Examiner, January 4), an organisation called Sense About Science stated celebrities who front public campaigns should check their facts first to avoid making claims that have no scientific basis.

Nominally a charity, with a little research it is apparent that Sense About Science is, however, really a front organisation for the agrochemical, drug and food processing industries.

The group has defended the use of additives, for example, when we all are becoming more aware that pesticides and food additives can be harmful to human health.

Additives enhance the profitability of big business rather than the nutritional value of food. Some multinationals have a history of misrepresenting or suppressing research for nefarious purposes — such as tobacco, for example.

Some of the statements by the organisation’s scientists, such those by Prof Vivian Moses, are misleading. Whether or not being the result of selective breeding makes plants and animals natural or not, it has nothing to do with the danger from biocides. Ursula Arens, of the British Dietetic Association, says additives make food safer by stopping them going off too quickly. This is a convenience, not safety, and has nothing to do with possible carcinogenic effects.

I would more respect the honest opinion of a celebrity than those of scientists and experts who prostitute themselves for propaganda purposes. These celebrities have a right to voice genuine concerns.

As with Sense About Science, the British Nutrition Foundation, despite it’s title, is also a front for industry, including the Dairy Council. The milk lobby has created the myth that milk is essential to a balanced diet, especially as a source of calcium. Milk is the means by which mammals nourish their young before they can eat solid food; it is unnecessary for adults and the most common source of food allergy. It is high in saturated fat and is a possible cause of arterial disease.

In their quest for increased profit margins, the organisations behind Sense About Science are overseeing a continuing deterioration in the quality and choice of food — if quality means taste and nutritional value rather than appearance and ease of handling, and choice means the hundreds of local varieties of fruit and vegetables that used to exist rather than 101 different kinds of crisps. Nevertheless, the power of advertising convinces us otherwise.

Looking at the rubbish on the group’s website, I think it would be better named Nonsense About Science.

Michael Job

Rossnagreana

Glengarriff

Co Cork