Consumers are often confused by seemingly conflicting advice from “experts.” Some recommend low-carb, high-fat diets; others, low-fat Mediterranean ones. Some tout the benefits of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, while others emphasize the risks. The scientific studies of these and other subjects are sometimes inconsistent. But while consumers may puzzle over the differing views of experts, they can be dangerously misled by activist NGOs whose agenda is baseless fear-mongering in the interest of fund-raising.
Consider the Environmental Working Group (EWG), leader of the “cell phones cause cancer” nonsense. Another of their lame hobby horses, which they trot out regularly, is the supposed danger of pesticides on produce. And each time — like Charlie Brown fooled by Lucy pulling away the football at the last second — the media buy into it.
