Here we go again! Mothers-to-be, and mothers everywhere in the UK have learned a new word, in spite of the difficulty in spelling it: phthalates. It sounds terrifying, particularly when linked to rats with impaired fertility. This did not deter a government spokesman, obviously well-trained by the BSE experience, to issue a warning while suggesting there was no need to worry.
Then came a decision not to name the "offending" products, thus condemning them all to the expected reaction. As it turned out, probably all brands contain the substance in some limited amounts but, the experts say, not one single pack has enough to cause any danger to a baby. In fact, the only expert to have investigated this problem, who has analysed the ingredients and measured the effect on luckless rodents and luckier mothers, has said exactly that. "Do not be alarmed. There is no risk." Or did he use the word "significant" just before "risk", thus turning a calming assurance into a further invitation to hysteria?
This followed the agriculture minister's statesman-like advice: "We do not think there is a need to worry in the normal sense of the word." If there was no risk, who suggested there was? The information emerged in an obscure, learned paper, that reported on scientific findings about these chemicals found in all the infant foods examined. When fed to animals they produced infertility, lower sperm counts and some gender bending. Scary stuff that appeared in a Sunday paper.
At this stage, some form of definite, scientific assurance, linked to believable mathematics, was essential. But it did not come until the anxiety had been inflamed by a cover-up. The refusal to name names may have been engendered by principle, but it did nothing for panicking mothers.
The food and health ministries have constant difficulties as consumer protection, scientific innuendoes and a probing media create constant waves of anxiety. Politicians should undergo some training in crisis management. It's more important than knowing what to wear for TV.
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