Bisphenol A, the Sugar Program, and Internet Privacy
Bisphenol A
Congress is considering a ban on the use of the chemical Bisphenol A, even though people have been using it for more than 50 years.
Director of Risk and Environmental Safety Angela Logomasini argues that banning BPA will endanger food safety.
“BPA provides many valuable health, safety and environmentally beneficial applications. It replaced glass baby bottles and cups to reduce the risks of broken glass, and it is more energy-efficient to make and transport. It also saves energy and water when used for highly reusable and recyclable five-gallon water jugs found in office coolers. Perhaps most importantly, BPA-based resins are used to line aluminum and steel cans to reduce contamination of food from rust, E. coli, botulism and other dangerous pathogens. Lawmakers assume that manufacturers have new products to replace BPA, but there is no proven safe replacement.”
The Sugar Program
American food manufacturers recently pressured the USDA into easing sugar import restrictions.
Adjunct Scholar Fran Smith argues that the sugar program isn’t working.
“CEI has long advocated the termination of the U.S. sugar program, which benefits a relatively small group of sugar producers, while raising food costs for consumers. It’s a prime example of why central planning doesn’t work.”
Internet Privacy
A new website, I Can Stalk U, aims at showing Twitter-users how they are giving up their privacy when they reveal personal information in their tweets.
Policy Analyst Ryan Radia says that our concept of privacy may be changing due to the social benefits of new data-sharing technologies.
“Ultimately, social networking is not about walling off information, but about sharing it with others. In the fast-moving information age, balancing the competing goals of privacy and information sharing is difficult, if not impossible—especially for lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Consumer preferences are evolving rapidly, fueled by new social networking technologies that are changing the way we share, organize, and use information.”