Unintended, ironic introspection by FSA
Britain's Food Standards Agency asks: "Are we 'bad science' junkies?" Well, yes you are. The regulators, of course, aimed their barbed inquiry at what they perceive is an insufficiently alert public that can't separate fact from fiction with regard to the scientific basis for dietary recommendations. In their mind, salt is the exception; they aver: "There was good awareness of the risks associated with eating too much salt."
Well, no there isn't "good (public) awareness of the risks associated with eating too much salt." The public has followed FSA down the "bad science" pathway and been convinced that science supports general salt reduction. Wrong. Any fair-minded reading of the literature addressing the question "will reducing dietary salt improve health" shows scant evidence for a health benefit and far more data suggesting actual increased risks.
FSA conducted the survey for the launch of the first meeting of the independent General Advisory Committee on Science (GACS) which will open its proceedings with a panel debate to look at the question 'Should we trust what scientists say about food?'.
Our suggestion: let's query the data, not the scientists. Good science is empirical, not expert opinion. Evidence-based medicine considers expert opinion only a Class D level of evidence.
