Center for Science in the Public Interest

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The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a non-profit watchdog group headed by Michael Jacobson. Jacobson founded the group in 1971 along with two former co-workers - meteorologist James Sullivan and chemist/Jesuit priest Albert Fritsch - from Ralph Nader’s Center for the Study of Responsive Law. CSPI’s twin missions are to "conduct innovative research and advocacy programs in health and nutrition and to provide consumers with current and useful information about their health and well-being."

CSPI has threatened to sue businesses that do not comply with its nutrition guidelines, including the purported mislabeling of “low-fat” foods in restaurants. In 2003, the group teamed up with trial lawyer John Banzhaf to pressure ice cream retailers to display the nutritional information of their products. Most recently, they have expanded the demand to include all chain restaurants, and have helped introduce menu labeling legislation in several U.S. cities and states. Their guidelines include detailed nutrition labeling, abolishing the use of trans fats, and reducing the amount of sodium in processed foods. The group’s Alcohol Policies Project advocates against what it sees as the adverse societal influences of alcohol. The Project lobbies mainly against alcohol advertising, most notably through its Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV. One of CSPI’s largest projects is its Food Safety initiative. In addition to publishing Outbreak Alert!, a compilation of food-borne illnesses and outbreaks, the Food Safety project supports the establishment of a new Food Safety Administration that would fold the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) into one bureaucratic body.

CSPI was also instrumental in convincing fast food restaurants to stop using animal fat for frying in 1989. They have recently been fighting against the use of trans fats in those same restaurants.

CSPI is a section 501(c)(3) organization exempt from federal income tax. CSPI's chief source of income is its Nutrition Action Health Letter, which has about 900,000 subscribers and does not accept corporate advertising. The organization receives about 5-10 percent of its $17 million annual budget from private foundation grants.

Programs and campaigns

The organization lists its goals as:

• To provide useful, objective information to the public and policymakers and to conduct research on food, alcohol, health, the environment, and other issues related to science and technology;
• To represent the citizen's interests before regulatory, judicial, and legislative bodies on food, alcohol, health, the environment, and other issues; and
• To ensure that science and technology are used for the public good and to encourage scientists to engage in public-interest activities.

Food Safety

CSPI’s Food Safety Program's goal is to ensure that government regulators, policy makers, and industry work harder to protect American consumers from the threats of food contamination and to reduce the burden of foodborne illnesses. The Food Safety Program lobbies Congress to strengthen current food safety laws and to adopt new laws to protect American consumers. CSPI publishes Outbreak Alert!, an ongoing compilation of product recalls, foodborne illnesses, and outbreaks.

Alcohol Policies Project

The Alcohol Policies Project is part of the CSPI. Its long-time director is lawyer George Hacker. One of the main activities of the Project is directing the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV, which seeks a ban on televised alcohol ads in any way associated with college sports.

Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV

The Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV is organized and promoted by the CSPI through its Alcohol Policies Project. Mr. Hacker also co-directs the Coalition for the Prevention of Alcohol Problems.

The Campaign calls upon college administrators to sign a pledge that their institutions will prohibit all alcohol advertising on local sports programming, and that they will also work within their athletic conferences and within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to prohibit all alcohol advertising from all televised college sports.

The Campaign also seeks congressional support for such a prohibition.

Over 80 national, state, and local groups joined CSPI in launching the Campaign in 2003.

Changes in Point of View

In the 1980s, the CSPI campaigned to support transfats, arguing in their official newsletter that 'the charges against trans fat just don't stand up'.

In 2003, the organisation's guidelines included abolishing the use of trans fats.

Criticisms

A number of individuals and organizations have criticized the CSPI, including politician Bob Barr, who claims that its research is not valid and that it conducts smear campaigns against those who publish contradictory research.

References

• Center for Science in the Public Interest. Project to Empower Students to Transform the Campus Drinking Culture: Survival Skills for the Successful Advocate. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, n.d.

• Goetz, D. Liquor industry gets stricter on advertising. Louisville Courier-Journal, 10.09.03

External links

• "CSPI website". Retrieved 2005-05-09.

• "Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV". A project of CSPI.