Catalyst, a very conservative ABC science program, ran a great episode on Saturated Fat and Cholesterol on 24th October. (Similar material to my post here.) How dare Catalyst criticise our long held views on Saturated Fat. Check out the response!
– The Australian newspaper reports public outcry over the episode. “ABC Health expert Norman Swan suggested Catalyst had been conned by people with a clear bias on the issue and warned “people will die” if they believed the program instead of their doctor.”
– The AMA and Heart Foundation have condemned the ABC.
– Drug companies have been surveying doctors since the episode to see if people are stopping their cholesterol medication.
– Media Watch has condemned the reporting as unscientific. (There is now a great debate on the Media Watch sight about their reporting being as bad as Catalyst.)
People are calling for an apology and resignations from the ABC. I hope the ABC stick to their guns.
If we can’t debate saturated fat without extreme responses and emotive replies, what can we debate?