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Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)


Self Description

December 2002: "The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a nonprofit education and advocacy organization that focuses on improving the safety and nutritional quality of our food supply and on reducing the carnage caused by alcoholic beverages....CSPI is supported by the more than 800,000 member-subscribers..."
http://www.cspinet.org/

Third-Party Descriptions

June 2011: 'Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, said state restaurant groups were leading the recent pushes for state legislation that pre-empted local governments. “Politicians go out to eat a lot, so restaurant owners know their state lawmakers very well,” Ms. Wootan said. “They’re quite formidable opponents.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/business/01obese.html

December 2010: '“The F.D.A. asked for and was given a very long lead time for implementation,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group. “But it’s still a vast improvement over what we have today.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/business/22food.html

March 2010: '"Mislabeling is a real disservice to consumers because people are cheated and are led to believe their food is healthier than it is," said Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who said he had been asking the agency for such action since 1970. "We're delighted that the FDA has issued an unprecedented flock of warning notices to companies big and small to clean up their labels."'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/03/AR2010030303119.html

October 2009: "In a complaint, filed on Wednesday in Superior Court in San Francisco, the Center for Science in the Public Interest charged that Bayer had deceived the group’s membership of some 756,000 people who bought the pills under false premises. The group asked the court to permanently prohibit Bayer from making prostate claims about its dietary supplements."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/business/media/02bayer.html

July 2008: '...Sara Lee agreed to change the labels on its popular Soft & Smooth bread to make clear it is made of just 30% whole grains. That is part of a settlement with the Washington (D.C.)-based consumer advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The group had threatened to sue Sara Lee in December, saying that the "whole grain goodness" sign splashed on Soft & Smooth packaging was misleading because the bread was made primarily of refined white flour.'

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jul2008/db20080722_962380.htm

September 2007: 'Menu labeling has become one of the top public-health priorities nationally,' says Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit organization in Washington, advocating nutrition and health issues.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0918/p02s01-ussc.html

January 2007: These scientists aren't the only ones concerned that Enviga might boost hopes for weight loss. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, has threatened legal action to stop Coca-Cola from marketing and promoting Enviga as a calorie burner.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801140.html

November 2006: “You look at a General Mills product and it looks like the bee’s knees, but it may be nutritionally flawed,” said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group based in Washington. “It may be high in sugar even though it has fiber in it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/06/business/06grocery.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Organization Executive (past or present) Caroline Smith DeWaal Person Nov 6, 2006
Organization Executive (past or present) George Hacker Esq. Person Nov 21, 2005
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Dr. Michael F. Jacobson Person
Organization Executive (past or present) Bonnie Liebman Person Feb 7, 2006
Organization Executive (past or present) Margo G. Wootan D.Sc. Person Sep 19, 2007

Articles and Resources

27 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 7]

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Jun 30, 2011 Local Laws Fighting Fat Under Siege

QUOTE: Several state legislatures are passing laws that prohibit municipalities and other local governments from adopting regulations aimed at curbing rising obesity and improving public health, such as requiring restaurants to provide nutritional information on menus or to eliminate trans fats from the foods they serve.

 New York Times
Dec 21, 2010 House Passes Overhaul of Food Laws

QUOTE: food manufacturers will be required to examine their processing systems to identify possible ways that food products can become contaminated and to develop detailed plans to keep that from happening. Companies must share those plans with the F.D.A., and provide the agency with records, including product test results, showing how effectively they carry them out. The agency, which has sometimes been criticized for its failure to check up on risky food producers, will be required to conduct more frequent inspections in the United States and abroad.

 New York Times
Mar 04, 2010 FDA warns 17 food companies of misleading claims on labels

QUOTE: In an unusually broad crackdown, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified 17 food companies, including major brands such as Gerber and Nestle, that they have violated federal laws by making false or misleading claims on their product packaging.

 Washington Post
Oct 27, 2009 A dubious alternative: There's no evidence that homeopathic products can prevent flu

QUOTE: Unlike vaccines or prescription or over-the-counter drugs, homeopathic medicines, which account for annual U.S. sales of more than $200 million, do not need to demonstrate safety or effectiveness...

 Washington Post
Oct 01, 2009 Bayer Labels’ Cancer-Fighting Claim Draws Suit

QUOTE: A nonprofit group in Washington has filed a lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare charging that the company’s labels and commercials falsely claimed its One A Day multivitamins for men may reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

 New York Times
Jul 23, 2008 How Whole Is Whole Grain?: A settlement between Sara Lee and the Center for Science in the Public Interest may lead to more accurate claims about whole grains on food labels

QUOTE: The group had threatened to sue Sara Lee in December, saying that the "whole grain goodness" sign splashed on Soft & Smooth packaging was misleading because the bread was made primarily of refined white flour.

 BusinessWeek
Sep 18, 2007 Must menus in California count calories, carbs, fats? A bill is on the governor's desk, and 4 of 5 state residents back it. But restaurant chains say mandatory measures are lawsuits waiting to happen.

QUOTE: Whether to require detailed nutritional information on restaurant menus or brochures is under scrutiny as never before. Some see it as a way to help curb high obesity rates by encouraging healthier eating, while restaurant representatives claim that mandatory measures would be burdensome and wouldn't stem obesity. To other lawmakers, labeling is the latest example of excessive government interference.

 Christian Science Monitor
Jul 22, 2007 Where does your food come from? Food labels don't tell the whole inside story

QUOTE: Recent reports of tainted imports from China have focused new attention on a little-known trend: In today's global economy, more food items are being produced in this country with some ingredients from other lands. But the FDA inspects less than 1 percent of all food imports - and that means consumers must trust food makers to guarantee the safety of their products.

 San Jose Mercury News
Jul 18, 2007 FDA Faulted In Safety Lapses: White House Orders Study of Imports

QUOTE: The Food and Drug Administration came under withering criticism by a House panel yesterday for its handling of recent food-safety violations, and the Bush administration later disclosed plans to establish a working group to review the safety of food and other imports.

 Washington Post
Apr 30, 2007 Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China

QUOTE: For years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly supplemented their feed with the substance, called melamine, a cheap additive that looks like protein in tests, even though it does not provide any nutritional benefits.

 New York Times
Apr 23, 2007 FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food: Outbreaks Were Not Preventable, Officials Say

QUOTE: The Food and Drug Administration has known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that killed three people, sickened hundreds, and forced one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history, documents and interviews show. Overwhelmed by huge growth in the number of food processors and imports, however, the agency took only limited steps to address the problems and relied on producers to police themselves, according to agency documents.

 Washington Post
Apr 05, 2007 Why the Hype Just Keeps on Coming: Increased scrutiny of advertisers' claims for their products is unlikely to do much to temper their overheated pitches

QUOTE: Why so much product hype? Companies typically face scant public censure when it comes to outrageous product claims. Even if a government agency, plaintiff, or activist cries foul, there's often little penalty to be paid. The few weeks or months that most companies' ad campaigns run are usually over before anyone gets exercised over their claims. By then the companies have already achieved their objective of goosing sales and the public is often unaware of any court rulings or government orders against the ads.

 BusinessWeek
Jan 09, 2007 Drink Up to Slim Down?

QUOTE: "the federal government imposed stiff fines on some well-known marketers of weight loss pill for deceptive marketing....A new green tea beverage is drawing sharp criticism from scientists and from a consumer group that says the drink's promotional material implies that it could help with weight loss."

 Washington Post
Nov 06, 2006 The Package May Say Healthy, but This Grocer Begs to Differ

QUOTE: "At a time when more and more products are being marketed as healthy, the fact that so many items seemed to flunk Hannaford’s inspection raises questions about the integrity of the nutrition claims, which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration — or possibly about whether Hannaford made its standards too prissy or draconian."

 New York Times
Nov 01, 2006 CDC Investigating Salmonella Outbreak: Lettuce, Tomatoes Are Suspected as Carriers

QUOTE: Health officials suspect lettuce and tomatoes in a nationwide outbreak of salmonella that so far has sickened 171 people in 19 states, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

 Washington Post
Aug 07, 2006 An Insider's Guide to Food Labels

QUOTE: Food activists are trying to change disclosure requirements. The Food & Drug Administration has received numerous complaints over the issue...consumers want to know what they're eating.

 BusinessWeek
Jul 12, 2006 New questions about safety of tuna imports

QUOTE: ..."light tuna" pulled off grocery store shelves nationwide and tested, the average mercury content was .269 parts per million (p.p.m), more than twice the average reported by the US Food and Drug Administration and far above the FDA's cutoff for fish deemed "low-mercury,"...

 Christian Science Monitor
Mar 29, 2006 Advertising: Critics Say Beer Spots Exploit Loopholes

QUOTE: Several consumer groups say that the voluntary standards set up by the Beer Institute, an industry trade group, are little more than a public relations ploy and do not go far enough in trying to cut down on beer ads seen by people under 21.

 New York Times
Dec 02, 2005 Lawyers Ready Suit Over Soda

QUOTE: A coalition of lawyers who have actively and successfully sued tobacco companies says it is close to filing a class-action lawsuit against soft-drink makers for selling sugared sodas in schools.

 Washington Post
Nov 21, 2005 Beer, Boorishness in Stands Spoil Games for Some Fans

QUOTE: ...football stadiums throughout the National Football League, some fans are disgusted with the obnoxious behavior in the stands, particularly by alcohol-fueled spectators. It has become so bad that some are turning to television as a safer, less harrowing way to watch the game.

 Washington Post

27 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 7]