‘Food Police’ Chief Watches What We Eat

Michael Jacobson was halfway through his veggie on whole wheat sandwich when he peeked between the slices of bread.

"I just realized I’m eating cheese," he said, a bit startled. "Cheese is full of fat and salt. I usually don’t eat cheese."

Lunch with the food police is no laughing matter. Nor is it extravagant: an organic apple, bottled water, a sandwich on whole wheat bread with plenty of fresh vegetables, no mayo, no chips and apparently no cheese.

Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, also known as the food police. CSPI is based in Washington, D.C., but Jacobson was in Sacramento last week to garner support for AB 97, a bill by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia. The bill would prohibit food facilities from storing, distributing, using in food preparation or serving food containing artificial trans fat. The measure has passed the Assembly but failed in the Senate. It is currently on the inactive list.

CSPI is a nonprofit consumer advocacy group founded in 1971 by Jacobson and two other scientists. It publishes the Nutrition Action Healthletter, the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America. CSPI, which coined the phrase "junk food," describes its mission as representing the American public on matters of nutrition, food safety, health and environmental protection awareness.

While CSPI has just 60 employees, it has attacked most of the food giants, including KFC, Whole Foods Market, McDonald’s, Burger King and Frito-Lay. The group has waged war against fat in movie-theater popcorn, Oreo cookies, fast food, pizza and alcohol advertising in college sports.

"After we sue a company, they are much more agreeable to talking with us," said Jacobson. "It’s always better to talk first. KFC wouldn’t talk, so we took them to court. Burger King talked, but we ended up suing them anyway."

According to Jacobson, since CSPI’s involvement, Wendy’s and McDonald’s are currently phasing out the use of partially hydrogenated oil. KFC stopped using it for deep-frying in 2007 after CSPI sued the company, although KFC still uses it for pot pies.

Jacobson says fried foods from Burger King are alarmingly high in trans fat. Burger King does not list trans fat as part of the nutritional information on its Web site. However, Calorie King, at www.calorieking.com , lists 3 grams of trans fat in an eight-piece chicken tenders dinner and 5.8 grams of trans fat in a large Burger King fries.

Trans fat is formed when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process called hydrogenation. According to the American Heart Association, hydrogen is added to make the oils more solid. The process also allows longer shelf life and gives food a certain flavor and texture.

Most trans fat is found in shortening, stick (or hard) margarine, cookies, crackers, snack foods, fried foods (including fried fast food), doughnuts, pastries, baked goods and other processed foods. Consumption of trans fat causes blockage of the arteries that can lead to heart attacks, strokes and kidney problems.

So why would anyone oppose a bill to protect consumers’ health?

"Many packaged-food manufacturers have already begun reformulating products to reduce or eliminate trans fats," said Jacobson. "The incentive was that they were required to list trans fats on their nutrition labels. There is no labeling law for restaurant foods and therefore no incentive to make changes."

Many high-end restaurants have eliminated trans fat by substituting soy oil or canola oil, said Jacobson.

"The real problem is baked goods. It takes a lot of effort to change a recipe for a baked product," he said. "Also, with small operations, owners are fearful of change."

Can’t consumers just make different choices to avoid trans fat when eating out?

"The problem is that you don’t know how your food was cooked or what’s in it," said Jacobson. "Fast-food restaurants have nutrition breakdowns available, but table-service restaurants do not. The consumer doesn’t have a choice."

A little more than a year ago, New York City adopted a law similar to AB 97, barring restaurants from using trans fat in any of their food by July 2008.

"It is working well in New York City," said Jacobson. "Consumers are not complaining, and restaurants have simply switched to safe fats. It has had very little impact on the cost of food. Policing the law is now part of the regular health inspectors’ responsibilities, so it is easy to enforce, and there is 95 percent compliance."

Jacobson says CSPI won’t rest until the American diet is safe and healthy.

"We’re moving forward city by city, state by state," said Jacobson. Tran fats, saturated fat, salt and caffeine are all on his list of targets. He counts as his greatest success the requirement, imposed in 1990, of putting nutrition labels on packaged food. Following that, he’s proudest of the addition of trans fat to nutrition labels.

"We have saved a lot of lives," he said.

Jacobson was asked if his personal lifestyle reflects what he preaches.

"Sure, I eat birthday cake," said the man who says he walks 2.5 miles to work each day. "When traveling, it’s sometimes difficult to find healthful food in airports, but there is always a yogurt stand. My wife likes to go to table-service restaurants occasionally, but I can’t eat anything without thinking about what’s in it. I pretty much eat a healthful diet."

He admits that occasionally he splurges with a bagel made with white flour — or even a piece of cheese if it’s hidden between two slices of whole wheat bread and buried in a pile of vegetables.