Health & Wellness

Big Food ‘Transparency’ Campaign Takes a Page From Big Tobacco

Stacy Malkan / U.S. Right To Know Nov 13, 2025 Dozens of food and beverage corporations and trade groups are pushing for a federal law that would override tough new state-level food safety laws in favor of a weaker federal standard. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

Politicians Refuse to Make Smokers Aware of Better Options

John Oyston / Filter Feb 9, 2024 Current regulation of safer nicotine products like vapes is based on politics, not science. It’s costing lives. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

With Each Cigarette Puff, the Socioeconomic Gap Between Smokers and Nonsmokers Widens

By William Wan / The Washington Post Jun 14, 2017 As inequality in America continues expanding by many measures, smoking is a growing aspect of that divide that is a matter of life and death. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Bernie Sanders Joins Call for DOJ Probe of Exxon’s Climate Change Misinformation Campaign

By Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams Oct 21, 2015 The petroleum company may have violated federal law by funding a decadeslong misinformation campaign on climate change, the Vermont senator says. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

John Oliver Takes Down Big Tobacco and Its Insane Ads

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Feb 17, 2015 The "Last Week Tonight" host explains that although government regulations have helped reduce smoking in the U.S., American tobacco companies are actually stronger than ever -- and brazen enough to run advertising he calls "a pile of horseshit." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

How Wall Street Tobacco Deals Left States With Billions in Toxic Debt

Staff / Truthdig Aug 9, 2014 Politicians wanted upfront cash from a legal victory over Big Tobacco, and bankers happily obliged. The price? A handful of states promised to repay $64 billion on just $3 billion advanced. Dig deeper ( 24 Min. Read )

Are Cigarettes Cigarettes If They’re Electronic?

Peter Z. Scheer / Truthdig Aug 27, 2013 E-cigarettes, those small vaporizers that deliver nicotine to the lungs without fire and smoke, are the apparent future of tobacco, and the FDA is about to respond to the industry with a pack of regulations. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Caves to Tobacco Lobby on Trade Pact Position

BLANK Aug 27, 2013 The investigative website Fair Warning reports that the White House has bowed to pressure from Big Tobacco and pro-business groups, and will drop a stance aimed at curbing smoking globally. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Blacks More Likely Than Other Groups to Identify as Gay

Staff / Truthdig Oct 28, 2012 A recent study shows blacks in the U.S. are more likely to identify as gay than other ethnic groups; saggy pants have become illegal in a Florida city; meanwhile, Mitt Romney's work for big tobacco is at odds with his professed Mormon beliefs. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Care and Feeding of a Corporate Propagandist

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 21, 2012 Over the last decade, New Yorker columnist Malcolm Gladwell has managed to metamorphose from a trained shill for Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and the deregulatory movement into an intellectual darling of mainstream "liberal" America. How did he do it? Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Congress OKs Anti-Smoking Bill

Staff / Truthdig Jun 12, 2009 Congress gave final approval to a bill that gives the federal government far-reaching power to try to decrease smoking in the U.S. Positioned to be much more effective than those stupid tobacco company-sponsored "Truth" commercials, the bill would limit nicotine levels and use of words like mild and light. Updated Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )