Saccharin, often used in the form of sodium saccharin, is an artificial sweetener with effectively no nutritional value. It is about 550 times as sweet as sucrose but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin is used to sweeten products such as drinks, candies, cookies, and especially for masking the bitter taste of some medicines.
Proposition 65 is a California law passed by direct voter initiative in 1986 by a 63%–37% vote. Its goals are to protect drinking water sources from toxic substances that cause cancer and birth defects and to reduce or eliminate exposures to those chemicals generally, such as consumer products, by requiring warnings in advance of those exposures.
Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf, or no longer on a supermarket shelf. It applies to cosmetics, foods and beverages, medical devices, medicines, explosives, pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals, tyres, batteries, and many other perishable items. In some regions, an advisory best before, mandatory use by or freshness date is required on packaged perishable foods. The concept of expiration date is related but legally distinct in some jurisdictions.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired driving policy, whether that impairment is caused by alcohol or any other drug. The Irving, Texas–based organization was founded on September 5, 1980, in California by Candace Lightner after her 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was killed by a drunk driver. There is at least one MADD office in every state of the United States and at least one in each province of Canada. These offices offer victim services and many resources involving alcohol safety. MADD has claimed that drunk driving has been reduced by half since its founding.
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislative Assembly through the minister of finance. It was established in 1927 by the government of Premier George Howard Ferguson to sell liquor, wine, and beer. Such sales were banned outright in 1916 as part of prohibition in Canada. The creation of the LCBO marked an easing of the province's temperance regime. By September 2017, the LCBO was operating 651 liquor stores.
Brewers Retail Inc., doing business as The Beer Store, is a privately-owned chain of retail outlets selling beer and other malt beverages in the province of Ontario, Canada.
Tobacco package warning messages are warning messages that appear on the packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products concerning their health effects. They have been implemented in an effort to enhance the public's awareness of the harmful effects of smoking. In general, warnings used in different countries try to emphasize the same messages. Warnings for some countries are listed below. Such warnings have been required in tobacco advertising for many years, with the earliest mandatory warning labels implemented in the United States in 1966. Implementing tobacco warning labels has been strongly opposed by the tobacco industry, most notably in Australia, following the implementation of plain packaging laws.
Alcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with nicotine advertising, alcohol advertising is one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing. Some or all forms of alcohol advertising are banned in some countries. There have been some important studies about alcohol advertising published, such as J.P. Nelson's in 2000.
Alcohol causes cancers of the oesophagus, liver, breast, colon, oral cavity, rectum, pharynx and laryngeal cancers, and probably causes cancers of the pancreas. Consumption of alcohol in any quantity can cause cancer. The more alcohol is consumed, the higher the cancer risk, and no amount can be considered safe. Alcoholic beverages were classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 1988.
Michael F. Jacobson, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is an American scientist and nutrition advocate.
Alcohol has a number of effects on health. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include intoxication and dehydration. Long-term effects of alcohol include changes in the metabolism of the liver and brain, several types of cancer and alcohol use disorder. Alcohol intoxication affects the brain, causing slurred speech, clumsiness, and delayed reflexes. Alcohol consumption can cause hypoglycemia in diabetics on certain medications, such as insulin or sulfonylurea, by blocking gluconeogenesis. There is an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder for teenagers while their brain is still developing. Adolescents who drink have a higher probability of injury including death.
The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) is an agency of the government of the Canadian province of Alberta, and regulates alcoholic beverages, recreational cannabis, and gaming-related activities. References to cannabis were added to AGLC's name and governing legislation as cannabis in Canada moved towards legalization in 2018. AGLC was created in 1996 as the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission by combining the responsibilities and operations of the Alberta Liquor Control Board (ALCB), Alberta Lotteries, the Alberta Gaming Commission, Alberta Lotteries and Gaming and the Gaming Control Branch. The current Chief Executive Officer as of 2020 is Kandice Machado.
There is no global consensus on recommended maximum intake of the drug alcohol. The guidelines provided by health agencies of governments are varied and are shown below. These recommendations concerning maximum intake are distinct from any legal restrictions that may apply in those countries. The American Heart Association recommends that those who do not already consume alcoholic beverages should not start doing so because of the negative long-term effects of alcohol consumption.
An alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The consumption of alcoholic drinks, often referred to as "drinking", plays an important social role in many cultures. Most countries have laws regulating the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Regulations may require the labeling of the percentage alcohol content and the use of a warning label. Some countries ban such activities entirely, but alcoholic drinks are legal in most parts of the world. The global alcoholic drink industry exceeded $1 trillion in 2018.
Tobacco politics refers to the politics surrounding the use and distribution of tobacco.
Tobacco control is a field of international public health science, policy and practice dedicated to addressing tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes. Since most cigarettes and cigars and hookahs contain/use tobacco, tobacco control also concerns these. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco itself, but (often) do contain nicotine. Tobacco control is a priority area for the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. References to a tobacco control movement may have either positive or negative connotations, depending upon the commentator.
Many college campuses throughout the United States have some form of alcohol advertising including flyers on bulletin boards to mini billboard signs on college buses. It is so prevalent on college campuses especially because college students are considered the "targeted marketing group," meaning that college students are more likely to consume larger qualities of alcohol than any other age group, which makes them the prime consumers of alcohol in the United States.
Alcohol packaging warning messages are warning messages that appear on the packaging of alcoholic drinks concerning their health effects. They have been implemented in an effort to enhance the public's awareness of the harmful effects of consuming alcoholic beverages, especially with respect to foetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol's carcinogenic properties. In general, warnings used in different countries try to emphasize the same messages. Such warnings have been required in alcohol advertising for many years, although the content of the warnings differ by nation.
The Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study was a scientific experiment in Canada on the effects of alcohol warning labels. It was terminated after lobbying from the alcohol industry, and later relaunched with industry-advocated experimental design changes: omitting the "Alcohol can cause cancer" label, not labelling some alcohol products, and shortening the time period. Enough data was gathered to show that all of the labels used in the study were simple, cheap, and effective, and it recommended that they should be required worldwide.
James Wilt is a freelance journalist and book author writing mainly about social issues. He lives in Canada.
