Center for Science in the Public Interest
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Contents
Mission
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is an American not-for-profit corporation that focuses on issues relating to foods and the food services industry. It was founded in 1971 as a consumer advocacy organization. CSPI's mission statement states that its 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". The CSPI's three main goals are:- 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.[Center for Science in the Public Interest Mission statement]
- Acrylamide[General Information ~ CSPI's Food Safety]
- [alcohol] — see also Effects of alcohol on the body and Alcohol consumption and health
- [antibiotic resistance] — see also antibiotic resistance
- [baby foods] — see also Baby food
- [biotechnology] — see also biotechnology
- [bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)] — see also Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
- [caffeine] — see also caffeine
- [coconut oil] — see also coconut oil
- [colorants] (particularly Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 2, Red 3, Yellow 6, and [carmine and cochineal]) — see also Food coloring and carmine
- food hygiene – including [eggs], [poultry] and [shellfish]
- [hypertension] (high blood pressure) exacerbated by poor diet — see also hypertension
- [nutrition labeling at fast-food and other chain restaurants]
- [obesity] — see also obesity
- [Olestra] — see also Olestra
- [palm oil] — see also Palm oil
- [Quorn] — see also Quorn
- [salt] — see also Edible salt
- [soft drinks] (all soft drinks but especially those sweetened with high fructose corn syrup [CSPI to Sue Cadbury Schweppes over 'All Natural' 7UP ~ Newsroom ~ News from CSPI]) — see also soft drinks
- [sugar] — see also sugar
- sweeteners — [acesulfame], [saccharin], [Stevia] — see also Acesulfame potassium, saccharin, and Stevia
- [trans fats] — see also trans fats
- "CSPI President Michael Jacobson told the Washingtonian magazine, 'CSPI is proud of finding fault with practically everything.'" [link]
Funding
CSPI is a nonprofit corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All contributions are tax deductible as provided by law. The CSPI's [Our Funding] page states that its chief source of income [Nutrition Action Healthletter], which has 900,000 paid subscribers. "Private foundation grants make up approximately 5% to 10% of CSPI's annual revenue of $15 million. Nutrition Action Healthletter accepts no advertising, and CSPI accepts no corporate or government grants."CSPI has called many foods unsafe, dangerous and \"food porn\"
Potentially contaminated foods
CSPI has criticised many foods as being potentially contaminated with:- Campylobacter toxin: chicken, raw milk[Food Safety Guide - Meet the Bugs]
- Ciguatera toxin: grouper, barracuda, snapper, jack, mackerel, triggerfish[Food Safety Guide - Seafood]
- Clostridium botulinum: home-canned foods, sausages, meat products, commercially canned vegetables, seafood products
- Cyclospora cayetanensis: berries, raspberries, lettuce, basil[Food Safety Guide - Fruits & Vegetables]
- Escherichia coli: ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, sprouts, unpasteurized juices
- Hepatitis A: shellfish, salads, cold cuts, sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, fruit juices, milk, milk products
- Listeria: hot dogs, deli meats, raw milk, cheeses (particularly soft-ripened cheeses like feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, or Mexican-style “queso blanco”), raw and cooked poultry, raw meats, ice cream, raw vegetables, raw and smoked fish
- Norwalk virus: shellfish salads
- Salmonella: Alfalfa sprouts, cantaloupe, eggs, fish, milk and dairy products, raw meats, poultry, sauces and salad dressings, seafood, shrimp, tomatoes, and cream-filled desserts and toppings[Plants for Supper? 10 Reasons to Eat More Like a Vegetarian]
- Scombroid toxin: fresh tuna, mahi mahi, bluefish, sardines, mackerel, amberjack, abalone
- Vibrio parahaemolyticus: raw oysters and clams, crabs, shrimp
- Vibrio vulnificus: raw oysters and clams, crabs
Other foods
- CSPI periodically identifies [Ten Foods You Should NEVER Eat!] The curent list is:
- *1. Pepperidge Farm Original Flaky Crust Roasted Chicken Pot Pie ("Artery Crust")
- *2. McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips ("Strip Tease")
- *3. The Cheesecake Factory's 6 Carb Original Cheesecake ("Factory Reject")
- *4. Marie Callender's Herb Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes ("Discomfort Food")
- *5. Mrs. Fields Milk Chocolate & Walnuts cookies ("Out in Left Field")
- *6. Starbucks Venti Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème ("Starbucks on Steroids")
- *7. Burger King French fries ("Coronary King")
- *8. Campbell's red-and-white-label condensed soups ("Salt’s On!")
- *9. Swoops candy ("Oops!")
- *10.Häagen-Dazs Mint Chip Dazzler ("Razzle, Dazzle ‘em")
- CSPI criticises a wide variety of foods, including apple pies['50's Restaurant Food -- "Happy Days" . . . or "Grease"?], baby back ribs, bacon [link], bagels [link], beef chimichangas, beef tacos, Belgian waffles, biscuits & gravy, breakfast sandwiches [link], brownies, Bologna, Buffalo wings, butter, candy bars, cheese [link], , cheese quesadillas, cheeseburgers, cheese fries [What's At Steak?], chicken fingers, cinnamon rolls,[link] condiments, croissants, Danish pastries,[link], donuts [link], Edy's Dibs / Dreyer's Dibs ice cream bites[Nutrition Action Healthletter May 2006], enchiladas, eggs [link], eggnog [link], eggplant parmigiana, fetticcine alfredo, French toast [link], fried calamari, fried chicken [link], fried clams, fried fish [link], fried mozzarella sticks, General Tso's chicken, ham [link], hamburgers, ham & cheese omelettes, hash browns [link], Kung pao chicken, manicotti, milk (both regular and 2%), margarine, microwave popcorn [link], Moo shu pork, muffins [link], onion rings, orange beef, pie [link], pie crusts [link], pizza, pork chops [link], pork ribs, pound cake, pot pies, sausage [link]sweet and sour pork, poultry [link], ice cream [link],
- CSPI opposes all foods containing trans fats: cheesecake, Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter microwave popcorn, pot pie [link], Pepperidge Farm Roasted Turkey Premium Pot Pie, pound cake[link], ice cream bars, toaster tarts [link], [Nutrition Action Healthletter March 2006]
- CSPI says to eat lower-fat bacon, hot dogs, and sausages [Lower-Fat Hot Dogs, Bacon, & Sausage: The Best of the Wurst]
- CSPI criticises breakfast cereals whose fiber content does not meet its standsrds[ConfusaClusters: A "yoghurt coated" "high fiber" romp through the cereal aisle],
- CSPI opposes the consumption of any lcoholic beverage, such as beer and wine [Alcohol Policies Project Homepage]
- CSPI criticises white bread (whole grain versus white) [Whole Grains: The Inside Story].
- CSPI opposes baby food [Cheating Babies: Nutritional Quality and Cost of Commercial Baby Food]
- CSPI opposes foods it considers too high in salt, such as chicken burritos [Mexican Food: Oile`]
- CSPI critises foods with a high calorie content: Starbucks Venti Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème[Ten Foods You Should NEVER Eat!]
- CSPI has also criticised: baked potatoes with sour cream, beef, beef burritos, buttermilk biscuits [(dead link)], caffe latte, caffe mocha, canned fish, cappuccino, cheese manicotti, cheese ravioli, chicken enchiladas, chimichangas, chocolate cake, chocolate chips, chocolate mousse, cookie dough, Crackers [link], cream cheese, cream of broccoli soup, creamed spinach, cupcakes [(dead link)], desserts, dips, donuts [(dead link)], eggnog [(dead link)], fat-free cakes, fat-free cookies, fat-free ice cream, food coloring, French toast, fried rice, fried shrimp, frozen turkey, fruit cocktails, fruit drinks, fruit juice, fudge brownie sundaes, garlic bread, granola bars, Greek salads, Gyros, home-canned vegetables, homemade eggnog, homemade frosting, hot fudge sundaes, Lo mein, luncheon meats, margarine, mashed potatoes [(dead link)], mayonnaise, meat-stuffed grape leaves, muffins [link], mushrooms, mussels, No-chicken broth [(dead link)], oat cereal bars [link], omelets, Kellogg’s Eggo Nutri-Grain Pancakes [link], pastries [link], Potato chips [link], prime rib, pudding, rotisserie turkey, saccharin, salads, salt [link], scones, soft drinks [link], spaghetti and meatballs, steak [link], stuffed potato skins, sugar [link], toaster tarts [(dead link)], waffles, oatmeal and peanut butter cookies; pizza and pasta alfredo; soda, diet soda, coffee and tea; tuna, chicken and potato salads; potato, corn and tortilla chips; red meat; jello; pretzels; baby formula.
- CSPI has also recently attacked, among many others, [link]
- *Tiger Classic Fondue (“Fondon’t)
- *Southwest Airlones Snack Pack (“Junk Pack”)
- *Bertolli Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Portabello Mushrooms (“Killer Skillet”)
- *Wholly Health Truly Natural All Butter Golden Pound Cake (“Wholly Illegal”)
- *Uno Deep Dish Pizza (“Deep Threat”)
- *Stouffer’s Corner Bistro frozen entrees (“Coronary Bistro”)
- *Weight Watchers Whitman’s chocolate candies (“Candy Scam”)
- *Cinnabon Turnovers (“Cinabombs”)
- *Starbucks Chantico Drinking Chocolate (“Liquid Chocolate”)
- *Edy’s/Dreyers Dibs (“A Little Dib’ll Do Ya”)
- *Pillsbury Perfect Proportions Biscuits (“Badscuits”)
- *Enten-minis (“Ding Dongs in Drag”)
- *Dove Ice Cream (“Everlasting Dove”)
- *Simply Potatoes Mashed Potatoes (“Monster Mash”)
- *Starbuck Chocolate Peanut Butter Stack (“Stack Attack”)
Restaurant dining
CSPI criticises:- children's menus such as macaroni and cheese at Cracker Barrel[Kid's Cuisine: "What would you like with your fries?"]
- Chinese restaurants [Chinese Food: A Wok On The Wild Side]
- 1950s-themed restaurants serving food such as chef's salad with dressing, country fried steak, lasagna, meatloaf, milk shakes, and patty melt
- Greek restaurants serving dishes such as baklava[Nutrition Action Healthletter - Greek Food: a Mediterranean Mixed Bag]
- Mexican serving dishes such as beef nachos, cheese nachos, Chile rellenos, ,
- family restaurants[link],
- fast food restaurants (For example, "Burger King deserves special recognition for its efforts to block Americans' arteries before they get to work. It wins our coveted 'Breakfast Busters award. Bypass Burger King before you need your own bypass." [link])
- Italian restaurants [When in Rome . . . CSPI's Guide to Italian Food]
- sandwich shops
- seafood restaurants [link]
- steakhouses [link].
Opponent organisations
CSPI has attracted the attention of many groups. One such is the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), which receives funds from "restaurants, food companies and more than 1,000 concerned individuals".The CCF maintains a number of sites, which are a frequently used source of anti-CSPI material: [Center for Consumer Freedom], [ActivistCash.com], [AnimalScam.com], [CSPIscam.com], and [Fishscam.com].
The Capital Research Center is devoted to "analyzing organizations that promote the growth of government and in identifying viable private alternatives to government regulatory and entitlement programs". CRC maintains a [CSPI page].
The Heartland Institute's "mission is to discover and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. Such solutions include … choice and personal responsibility in health care". In an article, economics Professors James Bennett and Thomas DiLorenzo say, "What makes officious nannies like CSPI so maddening is that they cloak their apparent goal of prohibition in the language of health advocacy. Some of the advice in the group's Nutrition Action Healthletter is perfectly sensible, but the remainder can be highly controversial."["Food and Drink Police: Center for Science in the Public Interest wants government to control our eating habits"]
Undue Influence is a site "tracking the environmental movement's money, power, and harm using capitalist investments to destroy capitalist society". The CSPI is one organization it tracks on its [Center for Science in the Public Interest: a Ralph Nader spinoff] page.
Criticism
- Oxford's Social Issues Research Centrereports that "scare-mongering is the hallmark of the majority of CSPI's reports and so-called 'information booklets.'" [link]
- "There's nothing scientific about the Center for Science in the Public Interest" writes America's Future columnist F. R. Duplantier [link]
- CSPI has been accused of
- *misrepresenting research evidence,[link]
- *inflating statistics by as much as 100%,[link]
- *publishing false and incorect information, [link]
- *selectively reported evidence that creates a false impression, [link]
- *encouraging other to collect misleading information (CSPI, n.d.),
- *denying making statements earlier published (Goetz & Jacobson et al, 1983).
- CSPI's attacks on foods of which it does not approve have drawn the ire of many social commentators who feel that CSPI's campaigns take away simple pleasures that people have enjoyed for generations, dubbing CSPI the "food police" and "food Nazis"Williams, Walter. [Is This the America We Want?] The Jewish World Review, June 11, 2003.. The CSPI has been particularly criticized for leading movie theaters to stop using coconut oil to make popcorn, a change that many say has detracted from the flavor of movie theater popcorn, which few people eat often.
- CSPI campaigned against fast foods using saturated fats starting in 1984. When fast food companies replaced the saturated fat with trans fat, CSPI's campaign ended. CSPI defended trans fats in its 1987 [Nutrition Action Healthletter]. By 1992, CSPI began to speak against trans fats and is currently strongly against their use. Dr. Mary G. Enig outlines the controversial reversal.["The Tragic Legacy of Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)"][Special interest's secret recipe]
- An article on the Organic Consumers Association website, criticizes CPSI for supporting biotechnology and food irradiation ["Pseudo-Public Interest Group, CSPI, Now Supports Agbiotech"] and calls CSPI a "pseudo-public interest group."
- Fox News commentator Steven Milloy asks, "why is CSPI trying so carnivorously to destroy (meat substitute) Quorn? CSPI appears to have an unsavory relationship with Quorm competitor, Gardenburger....CSPI regularly promotes Gardenburger products on its Web site and publications"["Quorn & CSPI: The Other Fake Meat"]. [Gardenburger] issued a [rebuttal] of this criticism.
- Dr. David J. Hanson criticizes the Alcohol Policies Project[The Center for Science in the Public Interest: Not Scientific and Not in the Public Interest], which is funded partly by the anti-alcohol Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. According to Hanson, the National Journal noted that CSPI leader Michael Jacobson "would love to see a downturn in alcohol consumption, perhaps by as much as 75 percent.'That would be an astonishing public health victory,' he said." According to Hanson, CSPI's [Nutrition Action Healthletter] has also said, "the last thing the world needs is more drinkers, even moderate ones." However, some findings suggest moderate alcohol consumption is correlated with better health and greater longevity than is abstention, although the reasons underlying this correlation are not settled. (See Effects of alcohol on the body for more.)
- In addition, Hanson suggests that four grants CSPI received from the [Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation] prior may have influenced CSPI not to campaign on tobacco and disease, a suggestion refuted by Jacobson.*Jacobson, Michael "Tobacco Money" Doesn't Influence CSPI. Detroit News, January 27, 2000, p. A08. Letter to editor. However, the CSPI site contains no evidence of any research on smoking and health, on smoking-cessation assistance, or anti-smoking that it has organized or conducted.
- An American Council on Science and Health press release["Deceptive Practices Undermine Credibility of Consumer Group"] says, "CSPI is knowingly engaging in deceptive practices as they attempt to persuade the public and the media that their food safety scares are legitimate" and "If CSPI's efforts were an elementary school science project, young Dr. Jacobson would have received an 'F' and would have found himself in the principal's office for cheating." The American Dietetic Association has criticized CSPI for "masquerading a public relations stunt as science" [Response to CSPI Restaurant Meals Survey]
- Writing in the Cato Institute's newsletter [Briefly Noted], Dr. Henry I. Miller (of the Hoover Institution and the Competitive Enterprise Institute and former official for the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration) writes, "For more than a decade, CSPI has forsworn both common sense and overwhelming scientific evidence in attacking Olestra". He further writes, "Why is CSPI doing this? Maybe to boost the organization’s humming little business."
- The now defunct [Tufts University Nutrition Navigator] produced a rating guide to nutrition websites. As can be seen from an [an archived copy of its Center for Science in the Public Interest Review page], it gave the CSPI site a rating of 20 out of 25 (Better than Most) and an Accuracy of Information rating of 8 out of 10. Tufts comments, "CSPI provides a valuable public service in its examination of important issues, but its coverage of some topics, such as food additives, tends to be one-sided. Consumers will have to look elsewhere for a balanced discussion of nutrition 'hot topics' such as sugar and hyperactivity in children and the safety of artificial sweeteners." In reply, CSPI issued a press release [Tufts 'Navigator' Web Site: Misleading Advice] and also questioned Tufts corporate funding [Tufts University]. Nonetheless, Tufts' [Nutrition Academic Award Program Recommended Nutrition Links page] lists the CSPI as a recommended link in the Consumer Information category.
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette food writer Nancy Anderson says of CSPI's [Nutrition Action Healthletter], "In true CSPI fashion, the newsletter makes sweeping damnations of brand-name foods that are full of fat or sugar or both." She further says of the Healthletter, "It's opinionated, readable and not to be taken too seriously".["Nibbles: 3-alarm chili contest at Rock Bottom tonight"]
- In an article in the Capital Research Center publication Organization Trends, John K. Carlisle writes, "On balance, the organization has done far more harm than good. It has not achieved its mission to better inform the public about the link between good health and nutrition. It has needlessly frightened the public with scientifically-baseless food scares. It has hindered efforts to improve food safety and nutrition. No matter what it calls itself, CSPI does not do science and it certainly isn't in the public's interest."["Center for Science in the Public Interest: Profiting from Peddling Junk Science"]
References and sources
- 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 official website]
- [Safe Food International] (CSPI campaign)
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