Further evidence the FDA is in industry's pocket

The controversy over the safety of the chemical bisphenol A continues, as the U.S. FDA issues a statement saying that the agency sees no reason to tell consumers to stop using products that contain it, Reuters reports. This includes polycarbonate baby bottles, water bottles and more (which should be labeled with the #7 recycling code).

If such major players are clearly expressing concern over BPA, what legs does the FDA have to stand on for its reassurance? According to Reuters, the FDA's associate commissioner for science, Norris Alderson, said the feds are reviewing safety concerns, and pointed to two industry-funded studies claiming it poses no risk.

Daily Green

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The secret is to overwrite, not change bad habits

. . . . don't bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the hippocampus, they're there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.

NYTimes

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To fight addiction, emphasize looks not health

That's what the state of Oregon found, reports The Economist:

The history of drug education programmes in America is largely dismal. Prodded by the federal government, teachers stress the dangers of marijuana, which are occasionally (and implausibly) compared to those of cocaine and heroin. Teenagers are told that crack cocaine is highly addictive, which sounds to some like a challenge. When it comes to methamphetamine, though, out come pictures of "meth mouth"—the rotten teeth caused by heavy use. This message gets teenagers. When Safe Streets, a community group, asked pupils to design their own anti-drug posters, many emphasised cosmetic hazards over chemical ones.

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