The Farmer's Daughter USA: Calling Out Consumer Reports

Farmer's Daughter hits it with this article and it brings a bit of sense to the quackery of Dr. Oz:

For those concerned about Consumer Reports steady slide into promoting pseudoscience, a visit to CR headquarters by celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz should be cause for alarm.

The Genetic Literacy Project has obtained a Consumer Reports in house memo announcing a visit in May 2014 to CR headquarters for an “off the record” event. A number of CR staffers have appeared on the Dr. Oz show, including Michael Hansen, who has faced intense criticism for spreading misinformation about crop biotechnology, and the visit seems designed to cement that relationship. Time was scheduled for Dr. Oz to learn more about CR’s testing and take part in a discussion with staff facilitated by Urvashi Rangan, Consumers Union senior staffer who has worked closely in the past with Oz’s team on various issues.

Consumer Reports is widely known as a respectable organization that reviews and tests products on behalf of consumers. It is somewhat of a watchdog for consumer products. Unfortunately, the organization has stepped off the tracks into the realm of "pseudo-science." In its latest articles, Consumer Reports has taken an anti-GMO position, even though they have come to the party a little late and seem woefully uneducated about the topic.

Now representatives from the organization are making the rounds on morning television talk shows to talk about biotechnology. For all the consumer advocacy the organization has done and the credibility it has earned, it seems they have decided to throw it all away.

Consumer Reports story on biotechnology is nothing more than campaign literature for the anti-GMO labeling campaigns. As I've written about previously, Colorado's Proposition 105 and Oregon's Measure 92 are ballot initiatives that would require labeling. The organization is now advocating in favor of these proposals. While Consumer Reports has blathered on about the opposition to labeling efforts spending money on these campaigns, I certainly hope they are calculating the time, effort, and media reach they are donating to the labeling initiatives.

Unfortunately, Consumer Reports also made a handful of statements both in print and on various television programs that are just straight up false. I'll take them one at a time.

The Farmer's Daughter USA: Calling Out Consumer Reports