Consider the similar brouhaha over the alleged "toxicity" of the artificial sweetener aspartame. Also known as NutraSweet and Equal, the ubiquitous chemical has been implicated — against the bulk of scientific evidence, mind you — as the cause or catalyst of just about every serious health problem known to humankind. Its largest manufacturer happens to be Monsanto, a vast corporate entity some militant consumerists compare — quite sincerely — to Hitler's Third Reich.

Because this is a world view that doesn't allow for honest disagreement over the facts, everyone who has questioned the allegations against aspartame has been accused of being in Monsanto's pay. I stand among those accused, right alongside Time magazine reporter Christine Gorman, the American Diabetes Association, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and many other respectable entities.

These people are not kidding around. One zealot, the Webmaster of a massive site devoted exclusively to disseminating "the truth" about aspartame, put it to me thus in a personal message:

"I have no idea how you can twist the truth and continue to let aspartame harm over 200 million clueless victims around the world... and still sleep at night. The aspartame poisoning tragedy pales Stalin and his 20 million exterminated Russian citizens, and relegates Hitler (and his six million exterminated Jews) to an 'also-ran' rating in the genocide category."

He meant it.

Another person wrote: "I bet there is someone on your board or in your management who has ties to Monsanto. Could that be the case?"

And another: "Either your head is in the sand, or you are bought and paid for. Either way, you need to wake up because this is a serious issue which is now a breaking news story. Please rethink your position or you may end up in litigation."

It's not pleasant being on the receiving end of insults and threats like these, I must admit. I recoiled at the unfairness of it, just like David Galloway did. But it's one of the prices we pay for having a public voice.

What's ironic to me about these accusations, though, is that I've never been a big fan of corporate behemoths myself, nor, I suspect, has David Galloway. Who would be? The idea of bowing to their will or, worse yet, accepting money from them to print words in their defense is anathema. I can't say I believe they're inherently evil, but I've seen the damage they can do and I know as well as anybody that corporations sometimes lie in the interests of profit. That's why I'm a great believer in consumerism, grassroots and otherwise.

But, like my comrade-in-arms Mr. Galloway, I also believe that we, the people, must draw the line at spreading ill-informed rumors. I don't care what "higher purpose" they are deemed to serve. In truth, they help no one, and may even work against our own best interests.

So, for the record: I'm all for taking on the powers that be. Count me in. Just let's not do it at the expense of that "little thing called truth."