Cheers to…

No cheers this month

Jeers to…

…Canadian Blood Services. On their web site and in a brochure being distributed to school children, Canadian Blood Services is promoting the completely absurd superstition that people can divine important personality and health traits from their blood type.

Here is an example of what they say:

“Having type A blood suggests that you are reliable, a team player and may benefit from a vegetarian diet…. Having type B blood suggests that you are independent, a self-starter and may benefit from a wholesome well-balanced diet… Having type O blood suggests that you might be competitive, goal oriented and a real meat eater.”

ASR holds that this astrology of the blood is ridiculous to say the least, and it is inconceivable that Canadian Blood Services is promoting it. Why not e-mail them and let them know your thoughts? I’m sure Chair Leah Hollins would love to hear from you: feedback@blood.ca.

This was brought to our attention by Francis Hanlon, who CC’d ASR on a letter he wrote to Canadian Blood Services. Here is a portion of his letter:

“[This is] a pseudoscientific notion that cannot be encouraged by an organization that is operating with taxpayer money purporting to provide healthcare services and therefore be part of a science-based healthcare delivery system…. Dr. Victor Herbert, a hematologist who studied blood and nutrition at New York ‘s Mt. Sinai Medical Center before his death once said of the theory linking blood type and diet that it is ‘pure horse manure. It has no relation to reality. The genes for blood type have nothing to do with the genes that handle the food we eat.’ I urge you to remove this pseudoscience from your website and recall all the brochures that indicate that this information has any basis in reality. This is a total waste of taxpayer dollars and a travesty for a science-based organization to be promoting this misinformation.”

Thanks Francis!