Friday, September 16, 2011

Bad Doctor or just not completely honest?

http://news.yahoo.com/dr-oz-accused-fear-mongering-apple-juice-212559761.html
If you read the story, there are two ways to view what happened. Either you think Oz is simply pointing out that there are bad things in apple juice, or he unnecessarily left out certain facts to make the bad things seem worse, causing a much bigger deal that is actually warranted...and paired together, those things are irresponsible and can be dangerous. Think of it this way.

If I tell you that there is rat hair, bug parts, and animal poo in your food and canned foods that could make you sick, as a general rule I'd be telling the truth. The FDA has regulations on these exact things and the levels in food are accepted up to a point. The problem with that first statement is that it's not entirely true, and it is fairly misleading. If you read that statement above, you'd be grossed out, thinking that there's all this disease-ridden crap in your peanut butter. HOWEVER, if I gave you the whole truth, the picture is a little different. Yes there are those things are in your food, but they are at such a small level that we would never notice and they won't hurt us as long as they are kept below those levels. If you simply say the first part, you are somewhat implying that it's a bad thing...that it could harm you. Leaving out the part where you actually explain the statement changes the meaning of what you said completely.

And in relation to Oz's claims, not specifying which type of arsenic, not telling people that some arsenic isn't bad, and not using the correct method of detecting said arsenic in juice instead of water leaves out valuable information that completely changes the evidence. If he is simply trying to point out that it's there and that he thinks levels should be lower, he has a flawed process and is simply being irresponsible in his delivery of the information . If he is leaving these things out because it hurts his case, then he is irresponsibly and knowingly withholding information that would discredit his stance and his findings. Either way, what he is doing is spreading incomplete information that could affect the actions of hundreds of thousands of people and affect many businesses. If it's an ignorant accident, then he's just dumb. If it's on purpose, he is il-legitamizing a lot of what he has said or will ever say on his show, while unnecessarily spreading fear and negatively affecting a part the economy as well as people's faith in our food.

Fact is, he needs to be more professional and, as someone people look up to and believe in, he needs to be completely thorough in what he displays as "fact." It's ridiculous that he makes these claims in a fashion that leads you to believe that it's a negative thing that could lead to sickness, has no regrets about saying it that way and then admits he will let his kids drink the juice anyways...apparently it will only lead to sickness in the kids of the viewers, not good old Dr. Oz's.

AS for the people commenting at the bottom that they would take his word over the "FDA Shmoes", realize that while the FDA does have relations with food companies and that sort of thing, this doctor has a TV program that depends on ratings, money, and advertisements...not exactly a breeding ground non-biased reporting.

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