Why is Being in Charge More Important Than Getting the Facts Right?

I recently had a bit of a 'run in' with a person of authority here in Denmark. They were misinforming the public about parabens. I was completely taken aback by their responses to my communications. (Read this posting for details)

The Protest Sign is Back 

Now, I'm not looking to make enemies – I'm just interested in the facts – so I have purposefully not mentioned the person or organization by name. I haven't even revealed if the person is male or female.

But here's the thing: I have more to tell that may well include this person and this organization. And, because it is a bit tedious to continually refer to them as 'that organization with that person who misinformed the public in that article', I've been trying to find a fitting and more condensed name.

I found one.

The Danish EWG

Are you familiar with the Environmental Work Group? This Danish organization is (unfortunately) in many ways quite similar. They seem to be more interested in junk science and scaremongering than in providing facts and relevant, useful information. I shall therefore refer to them as the Danish EWG from now on.

But Why Do They Do That in The First Place?

I've pondered why scaremongering would be a chosen course of action for anyone in what is supposed to be an enlightened society. I've also discussed it with many times family and friends. Why would anyone assume this kind of behavior and purposefully mislead others? As far as I can see, it is counterproductive.

My husbands take on it: The more they can scare the crap out of people, the more they will look like they are 'proving their worth' – and the more government funding they will be able to secure.  

Funny.

This exact observation was also made by the preservatives expert who answered my questions about parabens (click the link above to read more).

And the more I think about it, the more I believe both fellows are absolutely spot on.

What Aren't They Telling Us?

Because of the incident with 'the Danish EWG', I have been doing some digging over the past few weeks on parabens, preservatives, and how they and other chemicals are categorized, reviewed, and labelled here in Scandinavia. I'm not done digging yet, but I will be writing about some of the things I have found very soon.

I hope I'm wrong about some of this stuff.