Consumers and society

In a decision written by Justice Harry Blackmun, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal and ruled against the Virginia State Board of Pharmacy. The ruling concluded that commercial speech has some protection under the First Amendment, particularly in relation to the right of citizens to receive information. Because the individual consumer and society in general may have strong interests in the free flow of commercial information, even commercial speech that has an economic rather than a political or artistic motivation deserves protection. Indeed, such information is crucial to the... 

Portland cements are manufactured to comply with specifications estabUshed in each country (70). In the United States, several different specifications are used, including those of the American Society for Testing and Materials and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The ASTM aimuaHy pubhshes test methods and standards (24), which are estabhshed on a consensus basis by its members which include consumers and producers. 

The separation between food consumers and producers in America has been ascribed to several factors. With the development of an urban industrial society, people became dependent on unknown producers for much of their food supply. As transport systems improved (railways, roads and canals) it became easier to produce food in regions whose climates allowed year-round production. 

Animals, including humans, create their body tissues from the food they consume all the substances that constitute their bodies are derived from food. Food is, therefore, essential for their survival, and food and the search for adequate supplies of food have determined, and still determine, the life-patterns of ancient as well as of modem people. The study of past human feeding habits and their diets is, therefore, central to the understanding of ancient societies. A large number of studies have shown that there is strong correlation between the type food consumed and the relative amounts of the stable isotopes of some elements in the body or in its dead remains. This seems to confirm an axiom generally recognized in science, that "You are what you eat."... 

The study of caffeine is a window into our culture and society. Why do so many people consume caffeine and what does that say about our drug consumption What are the basic biological properties that make caffeine the most widely consumed stimulant in the world and allow a number of international corporations to make vast sums of money ... 

Secondly, in many cases certain segments of society were being forced (sometimes unknowingly and involuntarily) to assume substantial risks. Workers, consumers, and the general public have been exposed to dangerous chemical substances at work, in consumer products, and in the water they drink and the air they breathe. 

In addition to more that 300 papers published in professional journals, Dr. Cohen has written six books Heart of the Atom (Doubleday, 1967), translated into French, German, Italian, and Japanese Concepts of Nuclear Physics (McGraw-Hill, 1971), translated into Arabic and republished by Tata McGraw-Hill (India) Nuclear Science and Society (Doubleday, 1974) Before It s Too Late A Scientist s Case for Nuclear Power (Plenum, 1983), translated into Turkish Radon (Consumer Reports Books, 1987, and Avon Books, 1989) and The Nuclear Energy Option, Alternative for the Nineties (Plenum, 1990), tran slate d into Jap an e s e an d Span -ish. Dr. Cohen developed an inexpensive, accurate radon measurement device thathas been used by thousands of homeowners. 

Fundamentals of Dairy Chemistry has always been a reference text which has attempted to provide a complete treatise on the chemistry of milk and the relevant research. The third edition carries on in that format which has proved successful over four previous editions (Fundamentals of Dairy Science 1928, 1935 and Fundamentals of Dairy Chemistry 1965, 1974). Not only is the material brought up-to-date, indeed several chapters have been completely re-written, but attempts have been made to streamline this edition. In view of the plethora of research related to dairy chemistry, authors were asked to reduce the number of references by eliminating the early, less significant ones. In addition, two chapters have been replaced with subjects which we felt deserved attention Nutritive Value of Dairy Foods and Chemistry of Processing. Since our society is now more attuned to the quality of the food it consumes and the processes necessary to preserve that quality, the addition of these topics seemed justified. This does not minimize the importance of the information in the deleted chapters, Vitamins of Milk and Frozen Dairy Products. Some of the material in these previous chapters has been incorporated into the new chapters furthermore, the information in these chapters is available in the second edition, as a reprint from ADSA (Vitamins in Milk and Milk Products, November 1965) or in the many texts on ice cream manufacture. 

Professional pharmacy and medical organizations [e.g., the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the National Community Pharmcists Association (NCPA), and the American Medical Association (AMA)] and health care organizations [e.g., the American Diabetes Association (ADA) or the American Heart Association (AHA)] also provide valuable information about many health conditions and value-added services. This information is important not only in the development of a service but also in justifying the need for a service with consumers and administrators. These organizations also provide treatment guidelines and additional resources that can be used when developing an operations plan for a service (see Chapter 25). 

Fig. 13.47. Discharge curve for advanced prototype electric vehicle cell demonstrating 95 W h kg-1 cell-specific energy. (Reprinted from S. R. Ovshinsky, S. K. Dhar, S. Venkatesan, D. A. Corrigan, A. Holland, M. A. Fetcenko, and P. R. Gifford, Ovonic Nickel Metal Hydride Technology for Consumer and Electric Vehicle Batteries-A Review and Update," in Batteries for Portable Applications and Electric Vehicles, C. F. Holmes and A. R. Landgrebe, eds., Electrochemical Society Proc. PV97-18, p. 706, Fig. 1, 1997. Reproduced by permission of The Electrochemical Society, Inc.)...

American society arguably treats pharmaceuticals as consumables, and the marketing and consumption of them follow similar patterns to those of soft drinks or fast food. Most people surely know that obesity especially in the United States can be correlated with the massive increase in consumption of, for example, high-fructose corn syrup, but the concern about obesity does not correlate with a decrease in its use in food manufacture. Drugs are treated as consumables by seller and buyer, and even prescription drugs are marketed in the United States in a way that prospective patients can assume they ll feel better and be better if they take them. 

Officials aspired to control not only production but also consumption. In mid-1974 in the Dodoma district, for example, all private retail trade in essential food items was banned in favor of the monopoly formed by the state s consumer cooperative societies and Ujamaa shops. See Only Co-ops Will Sell Food in Dodoma, Daily News (Dar es Salaam), June 6, 1974. This move was probably provoked by the losses experienced by official shops, which were usually run by party cadres and lower-level officials. It would be surprising if such a monopoly over retail trade in food ever became much more than an aspiration. 

The global expansion of industrial and consumer-oriented societies is linked to large-scale industrial production and consumerism that utilize a vast array of numerous chemical compounds. The listings of such chemicals are too vast to present in this paper but some examples will be discussed here. Environmental contaminants in nature typically involve complex mixtures, partitioning factors, chemical transformations, and abiotic and biotic interactions. The biological and environmental effects are complex and may be additive, synergistic and even antagonistic in nature. 

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