2005 Man Of The Year Dr. Erik Millstone

The highly esteemed, tenured professor at the University of Sussex SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research Centre) in Brighton, England, Professor Erik Millstone has been fighting for over 30 years to educate the EU governments and consumers alike about the dangers of aspartame. Dr. Millstone has a first degree in Physics, and three postgraduate degrees in Philosophy.

New information on the dangers of aspartame is currently unfolding, and the international public is finally becoming aware of the truth about the harmful effects of this chemical added to our food supply. Professor Millstone is harder at work than ever before. His research and documented-aspartame-timeline presents conclusive evidence that the dangers of this chemical food additive have been well documented since the 1970s. I worked with Dr. Millstone when I was writing my first book on the dangers of aspartame, Sweet Poison, and had the pleasure of speaking with him while in London in the spring of 2005. He is currently working with Parliament and the EU governments concerning the current issue of chemical food dangers and their effects on humans.

Much of Dr. Millstone's research focuses on the ways public policy-makers reach decisions concerning the protection of environmental and public health. He is particularly interested in how policy-makers decide on the rules with which to regulate industrial products and manufacturing processes, especially in the food and chemical sectors. Dr. Millstone has studied a wide-range of public health and environmental issues including food additives such a aspartame, pesticides, BSE, GM foods and crops, and the control of lead pollution.

Dr. Millstone's current research project is phenomenal. It focuses on government policy responses to the epidemic of obesity in Europe. Dr. Millstone is the principal investigator, and heads the nine-country EU project known by its acronym PorGrow (Policy Options for Responding to the Growing Challenge from Obesity). PorGrow is funded by a 750k (British currency) grant from the European Community. The countries participating are the UK, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary and Cyprus. More details about the PorGrow project are available at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/porgrow

Dr. Millstone's main teaching efforts are focused on his role as Director of Studies for the MSc in Science and Technology Policy, teaching courses on Sociological Perspectives on Science and Technology and on Environmental Policy and Industrial Technology.

Hats Off To Dr. Erik Millstone - a good friend, honored colleague, and fabulous human being!

A list [sic] of published books by Dr. Millstone:

* The Atlas of Food: who eats what, where and why, E Millstone and T Lang (eds.), Earthscan, London and Penguin Books New York, 2003 - winner of the Andre Simon Award for the best book on food published in the UK in 2003
* Health and Environmental Impact Assessment: an integrated approach, with the British Medical Association's Board of Science and Education, Earthscan, April 1998
* Lead and Public Health, Earthscan, November 1997
* Our Genetic Future: the science and ethics of genetic technology (with B Dixon), The British Medical Association, Oxford University Press, 1992
* Additives: A Guide for Everyone, Penguin Books, 1988
* Food Additives, Penguin Books, 1986

Selected Publications [sic], Journal Articles:

'Policy Councils on Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity: the UK as a case study', (with T Lang et al) Public Health Nutrition, 2004, forthcoming

'The EU-US Dispute over the introduction of agricultural biotechnology: an analysis and prognosis', Soziale Technik, Vol.4, 2003, pp. 19-20

'Food and Agricultural Biotechnology Policy: How Much Autonomy Can Developing Countries Exercise?' with P van Zwanenberg, Development Policy Review, 2003, Vol. 21, No 5-6, pp. 655-667

E Millstone with W Bell et al, 'Carcinogenicity of Saccharin in Laboratory Animals and Humans: letter to Dr Harry Conacher of Health Canada', The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 8, No. 4, Oct/Dec 2002, pp. 387-393

'The evolution of food safety policy-making institutions in the UK, EU and Codex Alimentarius', with P van Zwanenberg, Social Policy and Administration, Vol. 36, No. 6, Dec. 2002, pp. 593-609

E Millstone, T Lang, A Naska, M Eames, D Barling, P van Zwanenberg, A Trichopoulou, 'European Policy on Food Safety: Comments and Suggestions on the White Paper on Food Safety' Trends in Food Science and Technology, 2001, Vol 11/12, pp. 458-466

'Recent developments in EU food policy: institutional adjustments or fundamental reforms?' Zeitschrift fur das gesamte Lebenmittelrecht, Vol 27, No 6, 22 Dec. 2000, pp. 1-15

'A crisis of trust: for science, scientists or institutions?' (with P van Zwanenberg), Nature Medicine, Vol 6, No 12, December 2000, pp. 1307-1308

'Food safety and consumer protection in a globalised economy', Swiss Political Science Review, Vol. 6, No 3, September 2000, pp. 109-118

'Analysing Biotechnology's Traumas', New Genetics and Society, Vol. 19, No 2, 2000, pp. 117-132

'Beyond sceptical relativism: evaluating the social constructions of expert risk assessments' (with P van Zwanenberg), Science, Technology & Human Values, Vol. 25, No 3, Summer 2000, pp. 259-282

'Beyond the "substantial equivalence" of GM foods', Nature, Vol 401, 7 October 1999, pp. 525-526

'Adverse reactions to food additives: the extent and severity of the problem', Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 7, No 4, 1997, pp. 323-332

Posted February 2006 | Permanent Link

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