American Council on Science and Health executives get rich while twisting the science on industrial poisons

(NaturalNews) Many organizations might claim to support "science" and "evidence-based medicine," but such proclamations do not constitute proof that they actually practice what they preach. One such organization, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), contends that its sole mission is to sort through all the scientific claims out there and determine which ones are valid. However, if you look behind the rhetoric, you'll see that this self-proclaimed arbiter of scientific truth is really just an industry front group in disguise.

A recently obtained leaked ACSH "financial update" document for fiscal year 2013 contains detailed information about how this shady organization intended to fund itself during that particular year. Normally, ACSH aims to keep this information private. It has refused to disclose the identities of its financial donors for the past 20 years, but in 2012, the truth about what's really going on at this pro-industry organization went public.

We've obtained a copy of these leaked documents, which are available here^[PDF]. These documents reveal the names of the primary financial backers who are behind ACSH. Perhaps not shockingly, they include many of the big names in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, vaccines and biotechnology.

Operating at a deficit almost every single year based on data contained in the leaked documents, ACSH would not even exist were it not for hefty cash infusions from corporate entities such as Chevron, Coca-Cola, Bayer CropScience, Procter & Gamble, and yes, Monsanto. You can see for yourself which organizations back the endeavors of ACSH year after year, deceiving the public on important matters such as food and chemical safety.

ACSH is a "fringy group" filled with fake scientists who push pro-industry propaganda as if it were real science

TruthWiki.org has published an even longer list of contributors who have donated to the dissemination of ACSH propaganda promoting things like Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, DDT, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like bisphenol-A (BPA), rbGH, Agent Orange, Mercury, atrazine (toxic crop chemical), and more. That list is available here.

Besides misleading the public, the work of ACSH in promoting the various products of its financial donors is also lining the pockets of its executives, which include convicted felon Gilbert Ross, who is now the group's executive director. The infamous Paul "Offit-for-profit" Offit is also on board the ACSH ship, serving on its Board of Trustees.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that ACSH is not a legitimately independent organization devoted to the promotion of science. If it were, it wouldn't have an operating budget that is almost completely funded by corporations that sell junk food, drugs, chemical poisons and other harmful but highly profitable toxins.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the industry watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), wrote a scathing letter to the editor of The Washington Times back in 2008 challenging ACSH's longtime claim that its corporate funding somehow doesn't influence the group's "scientists."

Speaking directly to claims made by then-ACSH president Elizabeth Whelan in an earlier op-ed piece published by the same news source that her organization is unbiased, Jacobson wrote that:

"Mrs. Whelan's fringy group thinks scientists who work for drug companies one day should be able to sit in judgment about those companies' products the next day. Defending corporate influence over science isn't just a talking point for the so-called American Council on Science and health, it's the business model."

"The group is a receptacle for payments from pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, food and other companies who appreciate the convenience of having their grantees and former employees serve on government science panels."

Sources:

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://truthwiki.org/The_American_Council_on_Science_and_Health

http://www.washingtontimes.com