Sic Semper Tyrannis

... hilarity---and tragedy---often ensue. Case in point; in today's news:

A new study finds that against popular belief, eating tomatoes does not reduce man's risk of developing prostate cancer.

...

Previous studies found that eating foods high in tomato ingredients actually reduced a man's risk of developing the disease. The FDA even allowed the makers of tomato-based products to advertize on their products of the benefits of eating them.

Lycopenes are a form of antioxidents in tomatoes which apparently offer protection against prostate cancer, but now a new study has proven this to be simply not true.

Oopsie! But this was all harmless, right? Maybe not...

Follow up:

It is worth noting that during the study, the researchers also found an increased link with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and another antioxident found in tomatoes known as beta carotene.

Yikes... so the FDA's premature stance on tomatoes could have boosted tomato sales (I bet you can guess which side tomato farmers were on) at the expense of other foods, and could have increased the cancer risk of naive dupes who took the FDA's advice.

Feeling safer?

Let this be a lesson to us: think for yourself; be highly skeptical of the government. Use multiple sources of evidence. And don't leap to conclusions before the scientific process has run its course.