Michael F. Jacobson

Education

Jacobson attended the University of Chicago where he obtained a B.A. in chemistry in 1965. He started graduate work at the University of California, San Diego from 1965 to 1967 and obtained his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in microbiology/molecular biology in 1969. In addition to publicizing concerns about or praise for foods, Jacobson lobbied for improvements in U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations and guidelines and for new legislation.

He founded Food Day, a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainable food and a grassroots campaign for change in food policies. Food Day was celebrated annually from 1975 to 1977 and from 2011 to 2015. Jacobson also founded Big Business Day and the Center for the Study of Commercialism.

In 2022, after he resigned from CSPI's board of directors and his position as senior scientist, Jacobson founded the National Food Museum. That institution "explores food in all its dimensions". Jacobson proposed several warning labels, including "Drinking (non-diet) soft drinks contributes to obesity and tooth decay," and "Consider switching to diet soda, water, or skim milk." He has referred to obesity as "an epidemic" during a CBS interview.

In 2005, Jacobson's organization proposed mandatory warning labels on all containers of sugar-sweetened soft drinks, to warn consumers about the possible health risks of consuming these beverages on a regular basis.

Jacobson advocates higher taxes on unhealthy foods, greater use of front-of-package warning labels on food and beverage packaging, restrictions on advertising and selling junk foods ("snack foods"), and lawsuits against food producers and retailers whose practices he believes are detrimental to public health. His publicity campaigns and legal actions regarding un healthy ingredients such as: urethane in alcoholic beverages, sulfite preservatives in fresh vegetables, wine, and other foods; sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite in bacon and other processed meats; olestra; and acrylamide in baked and fried foods led to governmental restrictions or voluntary actions to reduce or eliminate those substances. Jacobson led the effort to get "Added Sugars" listed on Nutrition Facts labels. In an early campaign, beginning in 1977, CSPI petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to restrict junk-food marketing to children.

Trans fat

Beginning in 1993, Jacobson spearheaded efforts to require that artificial trans fat be labeled on food packages. As evidence of trans fat's harmfulness accumulated, in 2004 CSPI petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, the source of artificial trans fat. The FDA banned that oil in 2015, with June 18, 2018, being the effective date to stop using it.

Plant-based diet

In 2006, Jacobson and staff from CSPI authored Six Arguments for a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-Based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment. The book critically examines the environmental, health and animal welfare consequences of animal source foods. The book suggests that people adopt a more-plant-based diet such as the DASH diet or Mediterranean diet and eat more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, healthy oils with modest amounts of fish or poultry and some low-fat dairy products.

Sodium

He has led campaigns beginning in 1978 to reduce the sodium content of processed foods, such as soups, snack foods, and processed meats, as well as restaurant meals. Excess consumption of sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. In addition to publishing several books and reports, CSPI's work led to the FDA's issuing voluntary sodium-reduction guidelines in October 2021.

Jacobson stepped down as executive director of CSPI in October 2017 and then in 2020, as a senior scientist at CSPI, published Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet. That book addresses the scientific controversy about the health impact of lowering sodium consumption, industry opposition to government action to lower sodium, and advice to consumers.

Criticism Due to his public-interest approach and in part to his criticisms of the food industry, Jacobson's methods have been questioned by the libertarian community, with the Center for Consumer Freedom awarding him "nanny of the year" on three occasions. Some argue that parents have control over their children's diet and can moderate their intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks. However, Jacobson contends that "kids know about vending machines, and they can go to 7-Eleven and get a Big Gulp which contains half a gallon —a thousand calories, almost!—of soda pop in a single serving... We've come a long way from the six-and-a-half ounce Coke bottles some 50 years ago." Restaurant Confidential. Jacobson, Jayne Hurley. Workman Publishing Co. (2002) Salt: The Forgotten Killer, Center for Science in the Public Interest (2005) Six Arguments for a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-Based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment. Center for Science in the Public Interest (2006) Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming Americans' Health. Center for Science in the Public Interest (2007) Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet, MIT Press. (2020)