Re: [Fwd: Fwd: URGENT! ICE CREAM WITH DIOXIN'S! URGENT!]

[Jonathan Dushoff <dushoff@gate.sinica.edu.tw>]

The result is plausible and worrying, but Milloy and Gough's work should
always be taken with a grain of salt.

Milloy is primarily funded by the Cato Institute, and his primary agenda
(sometimes hidden, sometimes not-so-well hidden) is to suggest that
virtually all environmental concerns (including global warming, the
ozone hole and others that should not be controversial) are somewhere
between overblown and purely ridiculous.

Jonathan Dushoff

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THIS IS AN EMERGENCY.  THIS IS NOT A TEST.

Unsafe Levels of Dioxin have just been found in Ben & Jerry's Ice
Cream.

Ben & Jerry are environmental activists, and use milk from the
healthiest cows.  Imagine what is in the concentrated cheese and ice
cream made from the average dairy cow?

Unsafe levels of dioxin were measured in a sample of Ben & Jerry's
brand ice cream, according to a new study published on
Junkscience.com.  (http://www.junkscience.com/nov99/benjerry.htm)

Ben & Jerry's promotional literature reveals that Dioxin's cause
"cancer, genetic and reproductive defects and learning disabilities."

Ben and Jerry say:

"The only safe level of dioxin exposure is no exposure at all." =20

STEVE MILLOY, co-author of the study and owner of the JUNK SCIENCE
website wrote:

"The level of dioxin tested in Ben & Jerry's was almost 200 times
greater than the  "virtually safe [daily] dose" determined by the EPA,
said Michael Gough, lead study author. Gough is a former government
scientist who chaired the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
advisory panel on the effects of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange on
U.S. Air Force personnel in Vietnam.=20

"An independent laboratory measured 0.79 =B1 0.38 parts per trillion of
dioxin in the sample of ice cream, " said Gough .  "Our result has
measurement error associated with it and the sample may or may not be
representative of all Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but our result is
consistent with current scientific literature."

Gough and Milloy noted they believe existing scientific evidence does
not credibly link low levels of dioxin exposure with human health
effects. "But not everyone agrees," said co-author Steven Milloy,
editor
of Junkscience.com. "Ben & Jerry's and Greenpeace, the company's source
for information on dioxin, have concluded that dioxin is not safe at
any level."

"If dioxin is so dangerous, perhaps Ben & Jerry's should remove its ice
cream from the market until it is 'safe', consistent with the company's
promotional literature," suggested Milloy.

"Many children enjoy Ben & Jerry's ice cream," said Milloy, "but by the
company's own standards, its ice cream is not safe.  Are they are
choosing corporate profits over children's health?" he asked. "Maybe an
appropriate new flavor would be 'Tasty Toxics' or 'World's Best
Hypocrisy'."

A full copy of the report is at Junkscience.com
(http://www.junkscience.com/nov99/benjerry.htm).=20

Steven Milloy may be contacted at 202-467-8586.