Dr. Robert Atkins, whose popular diet stresses protein-rich meat and cheese over carbohydrates, weighed 258 pounds at his death and had a history of heart disease, a newspaper reported Tuesday.Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, comments:
Atkins died last April at age 72 after being injured in a fall on an icy street.
Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a report by the city medical examiner.
If Dr. Atkins himself paid a price for following this sort of diet for a long period of time, that is indeed a tragedy . . .The only relevance this would have is if he used himself as an example to show what the diet could do over the long run, and encouraged other people to go on the unhealthy diet that made him a lot of money. . .Over the long run it is not a good approach to weight control. For some people, it seems to contribute to increased risk of heart problems. We have heard of people dying after following this sort of diet.I notice that the Center for Consumer Freedom (a horrible public relations and lobbying firm) is criticizing the critics of Atkins. (Of course, the Washington Times prints up every press release the phony Center for Consumer Freedom sends out.) The Center for Consumer Freedom is run by Rick Berman's PR firm, Berman & Company Inc., based in Washington DC. It aggressively targets groups seeking to promote controls relating to alcohol, tobacco, food safety, animal rights or the environment. When I get angry enough about these people and the beef lobby, I'll write about their efforts to minimize regulation of the beef industry--which enabled BSE (Mad Cow Disease) to get to the United States. But here's a start:
Berman's mission--excellence in lying:
Welcome to Berman and CompanyBut here's what this really means, in light of Berman's customers:
Berman and Company is a dynamic research and communications firm. We blend aggressive, creative thinking and tactics with functional expertise to achieve extraordinary results for our clients.
Berman and Company has a clear mission: “Change the debate.” Many PR firms promise access to the media. Law firms pledge to defend their clients. Lobbying firms promise access to friendly legislators. At Berman and Company we do all this. But we go further. We change the debate. If necessary, we start the debate.
We see each new issue as a fresh challenge. We never resort to canned, off-the-shelf solutions. We consistently create new approaches to policy debates. Our success is based on three core competencies: credible research as the foundation for effective messages disseminated via aggressive communications.
Berman & Co., a Washington, DC public affairs firm owned by lobbyist Rick Berman, represents the tobacco industry as well as hotels, beer distributors, taverns, and restaurant chains. Berman & Co. lobbies for companies such as Cracker Barrel, Hooters, International House of Pancakes, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Steak & Ale, TGI Friday's, Uno's Restaurants, and Wendy's. It also operates a network of several front groups, web sites, and think tanks that work to keep wages low for restaurants and to block legislation on food safety, secondhand cigarette smoke, and drunk driving.See more about Berman's activities at Disinfopedia.
In a 1999 interview with the Chain Leader, a trade publication for restaurant chains, Berman explained the focus of his lobbying efforts, which mirror his non-profit groups' activities. "In effect, our work is restricted to and focused on issues that affect shareholder value," he said. "These big issues include labor costs as they relate to health insurance and the minimum wage." He also stated that he attacks activists more aggressively than other lobbyists. "We always have a knife in our teeth," he said. Since activists "drive consumer behavior on meat, alcohol, fat, sugar, tobacco and caffeine," his strategy is "to shoot the messenger.... We've got to attack their credibility as spokespersons."
Although Berman refuses to disclose the identity of its anonymous funders, the following companies have been linked to Berman & Co. in news reports and other public documents:And there's another list of contributors here at ConsumerDeception.com.American Restaurant Group, Inc. Anheuser-Busch Arby's Brinker International, Inc. Burger King Carson Restaurants Worldwide Chili's Chi-Chi's Cracker Barrel El Torito Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association Hard Rock Café Hooters of America, Inc. Houston's Restaurants, Inc. International House of Pancakes Jack-in-the-Box KKR Enterprises, Inc. Luby's, Inc. Marie Callender Pie Shops, Inc. Marriott Corp. Metromedia Restaurant Group Olive Garden Outback Steakhouse, Inc. Panda Management Company, Inc. Perkins Family Restaurants, L.P. Philip Morris Rare Hospitality International Red Lobster Shoney's, Inc. Sizzler Steak & Ale TGI Friday's Uno Restaurant Corp. Vicorp Restaurants, Inc. Wendy's
