Feb 19, 2008
CPC Fellow Barry Popkin was interviewed by The New York Times and The Philadelphia Enquirer in response to the controversy generated when the president-elect of the Obesity Society filed an affidavit presenting scientific evidence that calorie labeling may not be helpful and could actually be harmful. “It might be only a scientific debate among nutrition experts, except for the fact that Dr. Allison was paid to write the document on behalf of the New York State Restaurant Association, which is suing to block the new rules.” (Saul, Stephanie. “Conflict on the menu,” The New York Times, February 16, 2008.)
Here are excerpts from both of those articles and links to the full news stories.
New York City’s new rules for menu labels at chain restaurants have set off a food fight among the nation’s obesity experts. …Many of the group’s 1,800 members are “completely mad that a president-elect of the Obesity Society, an organization that cares about obesity and cares about healthy eating, wants to hold back information from people that helps them make healthy choices,” said Dr. Barry M. Popkin, a member of the organization, who is director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. (Saul, Stephanie. “Conflict on the menu,” The New York Times, February 16, 2008.)
Call it a scientific food fight. The incoming president of the nation’s leading group of obesity researchers has sparked a debate among his colleagues by taking the restaurant industry’s side in a court case to limit obesity. …”He’s working as an advocate for a company against what I view as the public good,” said Barry M. Popkin, director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at the University of North Carolina, who filed a brief in support of the health department. (Stark, Karl.”Weighty issue: Money and science,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 16, 2008)
To read the complete articles, click below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/business/
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080216_Weighty_issue__Money_and_science.html
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