Cookies’ drug-like qualities, reusable bag study has holes, the “most secretive” organization in Canada
• The End of Overeating, a new book by former FDA commissioner David Kessler, claims that foods containing combinations of fat, sugar and salt can act like addictive drugs—they “hijack” the brain, making certain people craving more. [CTV]
• The Vancouver Sun delves deeper into research that suggests reusable shopping bags encourage bacterial growth. That study, sponsored by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council, didn’t find any reusable bags with harmful levels of bacteria—just the potential for it. [Vancouver Sun]
• The Canadian Association of Journalists bestows the dubious honour of “most secretive organization in 2008” to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Information requests to the CFIA took nine months to process, which pushed the agency past the PMO to win the The Code of Silence Award. Better luck next year, Stephen. [Metro]
• Sri Lanka’s general counsel, Bandula Jayasekara, claims a fire that gutted a Sri Lankan restaurant in Brampton over the weekend is proof that Tamil Tigers are “on the rampage in Toronto.” Peel Regional Police are not jumping to such conclusions. Their investigation of the Lanka Gardens fire continues. [Toronto Sun]
• An international collective of researchers that has combed through nine centuries worth of fishing logs has found that there used to be 10 times more fish in the oceans than there are now. Also: the average weight of a trophy fish went from 20 pounds to 2.3 pounds in just 50 years. [Globe and Mail]
