There’s growing concern that endocrine disrupting chemicals have been linked to health problems in humans, and this month a report issued by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme called these chemicals a "global threat" that should be addressed. Heather Patisaul, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, and Urvashi Rangan, director of the Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group at Consumer Reports, explain what endocrine disruptors—like BPA, phthalates, some pesticides and fire retardants—are, where they’re found, and how they affect human development and health.

Thomas Bjorkman, professor of horticulture at Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, and Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Director, Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group at Consumer Reports, discuss what the organic label indicates about how food is grown, and what the various animal welfare labels indicate about how meat or eggs were bred and raised.

Sugary cereals claim to be "heart healthy" and packages that say a food is "all natural" still have a list of mysterious ingredients. On today’s edition of Please Explain, Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New ...