What ad is Dr Greger talking about in his videos? This one: Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke in Perspective — What Risks Do You Take? (when was it published? 1994?)

The ad contained a table showcasing that cancer risks associated with several other dietary intakes were actually substantiall by higher than second-hand tobacco smoke!

Here is the table at the bottom of the ad:

The table is hard to read. Here are the rows:

a) Diet Highest in Saturated Fats ⇒ Relative risk of Lung Cancer is 6.14

b) Non-vegetarian vs vegetarian diet ⇒ Relative risk of Heart Disease is 3.08

c) Frequently cooking with rapeseed oil ⇒ Relative risk of Lung Cancer is 2.80

d) Drinking 1-2 glasses of whole milk per day ⇒ Relative risk of Lung Cancer is 1.62

e) Eating 1 biscuit a day ⇒ Relative risk of Heart Disease is 1.49

f) Drinking chlorinated water ⇒ Relative risk of Rectal cancer is 1.38

g) Eating pepper frequently ⇒ Relative risk of Mortality (dying) is 1.30

h) Exposure of second-hand tobacco smoke ⇒ Relative risk of Lung Cancer is 1.19

i) High Vegetable Diet ⇒ Relative risk of Lung Cancer is 0.37

j) High Fruit Diet ⇒ Relative risk of Lung Cancer is 0.31

[Relative Risk < 1.0 is a good thing; Relative Risk > 1.0 is a bad thing]

Food for Thought: Notice what kind of 'everyday activities' were said to increase the risk of cancer? High saturated fats, being non-vegetarian, frequent use of rapeseed oil, whole milk, biscuit (processed food?), chlorinated water, peppers. What was said to be protective? Fruits and vegetables! Makes me wonder, Wasn't the ad hinting at Whole Food Plant-Based diet? :-)

This ad was analyzed in a research paper: Passive smoking and health: should we believe Philip Morris's "experts"? by George Davy Smith and Andrew N Phillips, BMJ 1996;313:929.