thoughts and labels

Personal Thoughts; More on Warning labels

By John Taylor; 9 August, 2005

We are leaving for a week on vacation at Leamington, (on the other end
of Lake Erie), so some general musings today, followed by more
follow-up on the warning labels dot com idea.

Gazpacho guy is going in full force; I feel an unaccustomed sense of
health and well-being, though my underlying lack of vigor is still
worrying. Now that I know I can stave off migraines by never allowing
myself to dehydrate in the slightest, it is a tremendous psychological
lift. You never see me without my water bottle, but you also never see
the circles under my eyes either. When the weather shifts I still see
stars but so far no more being agonizingly dragged over the coals of a
migraine attack. I have always pictured migraine as a firestorm in the
brain, and if the land and trees are soaked with water it is
impossible to have forest fires. A simple solution that I should have
thought of years before. Words cannot express my gratitude to God for
helping me discover that.

But sadly, water is only part of the battle. I have been taking
advantage of the blender operation of preparing gazpacho soup every
few days (for the time being I have it with every meal, in order to be
sure of getting more than the minimum daily veggies) that I am already
doing to throw various extra herbs into the mix, notably garlic and
parsley (anti-inflammatories, good against migraine) and basil
(according to my healing herb book, an all around tonic). A while back
I read that Roman soldiers ate watercress for energy and vitality but
I had to give up on that because I could not find it in any grocery
stores. Then suddenly last week it appeared, right next to the
parsley. It must be watercress season or something, though from what I
read it is normally available whenever streams are not frozen. I mixed
it into my gazpacho, though it is much too early yet to tell if it
helps. As it is I am dead tired all the time; this always happens when
I become a vegetarian. But when I have no meat my migraines are fewer
and my joints do not hurt, so I am determined to find a way of
becoming an energetic vegetarian.

Having the kids around this summer is a joy but is cutting back on
productivity. What with all this activity going on around I now can
only hope for an essay every other day, if I am lucky.

Thomas (6 years old tomorrow) is what his grandfather calls a "go-go,"
never stopping, insect collecting, tree climbing dynamo, and very
sociable, to boot; his best friend of late is Travis, son of Korean
storekeepers downtown, in spite of the fact that he is at least two
years older than Thomas. Every day Thomas has three or four or more
boys out back in the tent trailer playhouse tearing the place apart,
playing and trading Pokeman and Yugi-oh cards, and when they are not
doing the card thing they are role playing. It is not "cowboys and
Indians" or "cops and robbers" now but complex, strange interactions
between imaginary creatures with strange names (and not always
grammatical names, having been sloppily translated from the Japanese;
for example, instead of "blue eyed dragon," it is "blue eyes dragon")
and even stranger powers. My theory is that little boys get sick of
having to ask adults, "What animal is this?" "What is that thing?"
With this strange cornucopia of imaginary Pokeman creatures, each with
special powers that evolve them into completely new creatures, back
and forth, this is their chance to be the experts. Talking about
nothing but these strange beasts with one another, they soon find that
they can patronize adults and say, "You don't even know what this or
that is?"

Silvie (eleven years old on the 27th) loves to read and play alone,
and was busy with drama camp and last week a horse riding day camp.
She is continuing with her penchant for making up skits, puzzles and
games; when I was a kid I was a passive consumer of these amusements
but with her to read a puzzle is inspiration to adapt it, change it
and come up with her own personalized versions. Every couple of days
she comes up with a new version of the "cooty-catcher" divining device
made out of folded paper, each with its own prophesies for your
imminent fate. Even those "scratch and win" promos that you get in
your junk mail are inspirational; she makes up her own unique "scratch
and win" with her own hidden surprise messages to be uncovered. Ditto
with surprises in our cereal boxes; as a kid I just hoped for a prize.
Silvie adds her own prizes, and even mixes in candies and other kid
friendly additives. I must say, when you are not expecting it and are
still groggy in the morning, these not always soft surprises test your
teeth and gums.

Warning Labels Dot Com, Again

The inspiration for my proposed warning label website was the
suggestion by dieticians that soda pop, what they are calling "liquid
candy," be required to carry warning labels. Our first article,
"Calorie Warning Labels," is about that development. The next article,
"Funny Labels," is from a website that protests against there being
too many silly warning labels, which are the result of companies fears
of being sued for negligence. Our third and last snippet is from a
financial analyst, whose product is investment advice, a thing that
itself must come with a strong warning label, as he himself is well
aware. His point here is that even warning labels should come with
warning labels, which is true enough. I would only add that the
chances of the Master's advice about diet being debunked are somewhat
lower than your average study.

Calorie Warning Labels

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/14/earlyshow/health/main709023.shtml
"Obviously, that hasn't had much of an effect," he says of the calorie
information on labels. "And we should be doing more. Nobody's talking
about a ban on soda pop. But just put a little health information on
there, a little reminder. We're suggesting a range of reminders, some
would say it contributes to obesity and tooth decay; others would say
consider switching to diet soda, water or skim milk. Obesity is an
epidemic. One-third of youths already are overweight or obese. Are we
just going to sit around and do nothing? Or should we do something - a
modest, sensible step of putting a health message on cans and
bottles?"

Because the long-term consequences are very serious, the American
Beverage Association has posted the following statement on its Web
site as a response to Jacobson's idea:

"To ask the FDA for warning labels on soft drinks, or any food
products that contain caloric sweeteners, patronizes consumers and
lacks common sense. Where should such a food hit list stop? Even skim
milk and thousands of other food products could potentially fit into a
CSPI labeling scheme because of the sugars contained in these
products."

"That's the industry," Jacobson says. "I don't know where it stops,
but it starts with them. Studies have now been done over the last few
years demonstrating that soft drinks are a contributor to obesity, not
the only cause, but a significant cause. Teenagers are drinking more
than ever - even while adults are drinking less." And even though he
says parents have control to some extent, he says, "Kids know about
vending machines; they go to 7-eleven and get a big gulp, 1,000
calories of soda pop in a single serving. We've come a long way from
the 6 1/2-ounce coke bottles of 50 years ago."

Funny labels

http://www.mlaw.org/wwl/

A flushable toilet brush that warns users, "Do not use for personal
hygiene," has been identified as the nation's wackiest warning label
in an annual contest sponsored by a consumer watchdog group. The $250
second place award went to ... for a label on a popular scooter for
children that warns: "This product moves when used."

Third place and $100 went to ... who found the following warning on a
digital thermometer that can be used to take a persons temperature
several different ways: "Once used rectally, the thermometer should
not be used orally." Fourth place was a label on an electric hand
blender promoted for use in blending, whipping, chopping and dicing,
that warns: "Never remove food or other items from the blades while
the product is operating." In fifth place was a label on a nine- by
three-inch bag of air used as packing material. It carries this
warning: "Do not use this product as a toy, pillow, or flotation
device."

"This Warning Label Has a One-in-Three Chance of Being Debunked"

http://www.elliottwave.com/features/default.aspx?cat=mw&aid=1796&time=pm
"According to the latest health study" That phrase can still make lots
of folks pay attention, notwithstanding cynics like me who long ago
concluded that before long the "experts" will condemn as unhealthy
virtually all food & beverages that human beings consume. Yet, at long
last, I've got some science behind my sarcasm.

"A new study confirms" -- and I am not making this up -- "that what
doctors once said was good for you often turns out to be bad -- or at
least not as great as initially thought."

So claims the Journal of the American Medical Association, as reported
this week by the Associated Press: "The sobering conclusion came in a
review of major studies published in three influential medical
journals between 1990 and 2003, including 45 highly publicized studies
that initially claimed a drug or other treatment worked."

Okay, I'll cut to the chase: "That means nearly one-third of the
original results did not hold up."

So feel free to laugh along with me at the story that led TODAY'S
health news, namely the demand by a self-appointed "public interest"
group that soda cans come with warning labels. Hmmm I'll actually go
along with the idea, on one condition. The language must also say,
"This warning label is the result of a health study which has a
one-in-three chance of being debunked."

Reading and thinking about so-called health risks ended me up at the
Center for Disease Control's Internet site, specifically its "National
Vital Statistics Report." It's hardly news that life expectancy inches
up each year, but I was astonished to learn what has happened as the
inches accumulated for an entire century.

Covering the period from 1900 to 2002, the CDC data shows the number
of survivors out of 100,000 annual births in the United States, at age
levels from one to 100 years old. In other words, if you were 65 years
old in 2002, you were one of the 82.6% of your age peers who also
survived. But in 1902, a person alive at age 65 was one of only 40.9%
whose age peers survived, which obviously means a decided majority --
59.1% -- had died.

Thus the percentage of surviving 65-year olds more than doubled in a
century's time, and the multiple greatly increases at older ages. In
2002, 36.3% of 85-year olds had survived; in 1902, only 6% of 85-year
olds had survived. There's more, but you get the idea.

This is health "news" worth shouting from the rooftops, based not on
research that might not hold up, but on hard facts (death
certificates). I didn't know the full story about greater life
expectancy -- did you? Next time I start to hear about the "latest
health study," pardon me if I chuckle and change the channel. The
question is, if a third of the claims about health risks don't hold
up, what do we make of "expert" claims in other realms of life? What
is -- and is not -- a genuine risk to your portfolio, for example?

--
John Taylor

badijet@gmail.com