Opinion: CSPI needs a reality check

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) continues to prove that it is nothing more than an attention-seeking organization making sophomoric claims about the negative impact of restaurant foods. In its press release announcing a lawsuit against Kentucky Fried Chicken, CSPI said KFC "recklessly puts its customers at risk of a Kentucky Fried Coronary." The not-for-profit organization said this because KFC is one of thousands of restaurants that fry its foods in hydrogenated oils, which contain trans-fats.

 

I've never seen a reputable organization gig its foes in such a blatant, bald-faced and unprofessional manner. In taunting, KFC, CSPI said, "See you in court, Colonel Sanders."

 

Why did CSPI choose KFC over all the other chains serving deep-fried foods? Well, McDonald's has had its buns sued off and the next deepest pockets are those at Yum! Brands, KFC's parent. But according to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, a retired physician, Arthur Hoyte, had purchased fried chicken at KFC outlets in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, not knowing that KFC fries in partially hydrogenated oil.

 

"If I had known that KFC uses an unnatural frying oil, and that their food was so high in trans fat, I would have reconsidered my choices," Hoyte said in the press release. "I am bringing this suit because I want KFC to change the way it does business. And I'm doing it for my son and others' kids — so that they may have a healthier, happier, trans-fat-free future."

 

Give me a break, Dr. Hoyte. You expect me to believe that a physician wouldn't know fried chicken isn't exactly the most healthful offering — even when it's not fried in partially hydrogenated oil?

 

 

CSPI wants to build anxiety among consumers to further its priggish agenda. Their claims sound as sincere as PETA's, which once said beer was better for you than milk. Here's a rundown of recent headlines on the CSPI Web site:

CSPI said 50,000 Americans die a year from illnesses associated with trans-fats. Let's put that number into perspective. An average of 36,000 people per year in the United States die from influenza, and 114,000 per year are admitted to a hospital as a result of influenza. I'm not saying we should ignore the potential health threat trans-fats may pose to consumers, but health officials have many more pressing health epidemics to worry about than eliminating trans-fats.

 

More than five years ago, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) predicted that CSPI would eventually resort to frivolous litigation to force restaurants to bend to its radical nutrition mandates. Since CSPI's message of fewer food choices, increased taxation and regulation, and outright food bans have failed to resonate with the public, the group's only remaining option is to use the courts to usher in its brave new world of trial-lawyer-designed menus. Center for Consumer Freedom research analyst J. Justin Wilson said: "This lawsuit isn't surprising. CSPI has spent the better part of five years holding press conferences to threaten legal action over foods including ice cream, French fries, soft drinks, and breakfast cereal. Since consumers aren't abandoning the foods they love, CSPI is using the courts to force its will on all of us."

 

With that said, CSPI once lobbied for trans-fats. In 1988 CSPI wrote in its Nutrition Action Healthletter: "All told, the charges against trans fat just don't stand up. And by extension, hydrogenated oils seem relatively innocent."

 

 

CSPI has hinted that Starbucks is in its sights next because its high-calorie, high-fat coffee products contribute to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease and cancer. Currently, CSPI is planning an anti-Starbucks media campaign and possibly a lawsuit.

 

By this logic, I should sue my grandma for the pecan pies she fed me while I was growing up. But of course, my grandma – God bless her – doesn't have the net worth of Starbucks.

 

"Regular consumers of Starbucks products could face Venti-sized health problems," said Michael F. Jacobson, CSPI's executive director and chief huckster.

 

There are few companies more socially responsible than Starbucks, which has done more for the American people in one year than CSPI has in its entire existence. While CSPI was busy soliciting funds from the likes of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Starbucks was leading the Fair Trade coffee movement and converting its corporate stores to Green Power.

 

Starbucks also works in local communities to improve literacy and has provided more than $11 million to more than 700 youth focused organizations in the United States and Canada.

 

What does CSPI do for society? They send people marketing materials telling them how dangerous fast-food is and that they should donate $15, $20, $25 or $50. The organization's scare tactics work, too. Its No. 1 revenue earner is membership dues, which totaled $10.93 million in 2005¹.

 

But I would bet my next paycheck that if we polled the 900,000 CSPI members, the majority would want to continue drinking Starbucks' lattes and eating their double-fudge brownies — even if they knew the products contained trans-fats.