Cancer fear-mongering has got to stop

Alex Berezow Jan. 24, 2017 

Stories like the Nutella scare are an embarrassment to journalism and a dereliction of duty. Imagine what a typical American might do for breakfast: Fry a few slices of bacon, slather Nutella on a piece of toast, and pour a hot cup of coffee while checking e-mail on a smartphone. If we are to believe everything we read in the news, then that rather common daily ritual could cause you to die from cancer.

Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread, was the latest victim in the ceaseless fear-mongering over food.

Outrageous headlines went viral on the Internet. The Daily Mail breathlessly shouted, “Could Nutella give you CANCER?” while Quartz wrote, “Stores Are Pulling Nutella After Report Links It To Cancer” — later corrected because initial reports by the BBC and other outlets were wrong.

These stories give “fake news” a bad name. They are an embarrassment to journalism and a dereliction of duty. Once again, the media simply copied and pasted what other outlets reported, and few if any major news organizations did their jobs properly by reading the original scientific report.....To Read More.....