The One-Minute Meeting

The cocoa industry has insisted for years that it can prove cocoa holds health benefits and that reliable research proves it. The FDA has finally come around to that thinking — but not completely. The FDA is proposing language that cocoa sellers can use to claim the stuff might have health benefits, but that the results are unproven. The FDA’s approval says sellers can legally say, “Cocoa flavanols in high flavanol cocoa powder may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. FDA has concluded that there is very limited scientific evidence for this claim.”

President Joe Biden says there is no proof that the most recent objects that the U.S. shot out of the sky were spy balloons. A hobby club says one of the targets may have been theirs. In today’s newsletter, I will tell you about how balloon-based spying has been going on for centuries. 

The CDC says teenage girls are drinking alcohol more often than teen boys. In 2021, 23% of high school students drank alcohol. Teen drinking is declining overall, but 27% of female teens currently drink alcohol, compared to 19% of male teens. 

I want to alert but not alarm you about an outbreak of highly infectious Marburg disease in Central Africa. The infection is similar to the deadly Ebola and it is claiming lives. The World Health Organization is on the ground trying to figure out how concerned we should be. 

Finally, I will point you to a story of a police department that is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a podcast that not much of anybody listens to. The cops say they wanted to tell their own story because journalists don’t get it. City leaders loved the idea so much they reupped the program for tens of thousands of dollars and didn’t see a need to seek competitive bids. Of course, I will link you to the podcast so you can be wowed.