Do You Know What's in That?

            The logic of people trying to scare you on the internet… things that sound scary are bad for you. Of course, this is not always true. For instance, clowns are scary… okay, bad example. But, did you know that certain beta blockers can depress your heart rate? Sounds scary. It’s also kind of the whole point. In persons with heart failure, beta blockers can be used to slow their heart rate in order to evoke stronger, more efficient pumps of the heart. Oh, well that’s not so scary after all.

            It’s twisting the delivery of information or leaving out key contextual items in order to make it unnecessarily ominous that really ruins any credence of a story. Case in point, a news article I came across was tempting consumers of a particular beverage to abstain from it on the grounds that it contained an ingredient found in an insecticide. Oh dear, surly it must have negative health consequences then? Wait. On quick question. Is the ingredient in question actually one of the ingredients meant to kill the insects? Because it turns out, a chemical in many insecticides is found in almost every beverage. It’s called water. Make sure to watch out for that stuff.

            As for anyone who finds themselves reading something scary on the internet, keep in mind that we have regulatory bodies in charge of approving and overseeing ingredients and additives for precisely the reason of preventing poisons from being put in our foods. Are there shortcomings? Yes. Do things we thought were safe turn out to be dangerous upon further study? Of course. But by in large, if something turns out to be poisonous, it is probably not going to be approved for human consumption.

            As for anyone who happens to be a news source, particularly if it is a well-known, supposedly reputable news source, do the world a favor and take a pass on stories as obviously superfluous as these. There is clearly no case to be made here, no danger in the consumption of this beverage, and certainly no warrant for actual news coverage. So, fire the reporter that submitted it and I will be happy to take their place. But until then, I’ll be here. See you all next week.

            -AMS