The top official of the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest for more of its 45-year history, Michael Jacobson, 73, will change jobs next September to become CSPI’s chief scientist. Jacobson was active in campaigns to put the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods, to eliminate trans fats from processed foods and to force the government to set guidelines on salt in food.
A microbiologist by training, Jacobson will remain on CSPI’s board of directors as it selects his successor. Jacobson and two other scientists founded CSPI in 1971 during a national burst of activism. CSPI grabbed headlines with its periodic analyses of the calories and nutrients in everything from popcorn sold at movie theaters to the main dishes at chain restaurants. It says it also pioneered the use of litigation to stop deceptive advertising and marketing of food, beverages and dietary supplements.
“Michael Jacobson started a movement that inspired Americans to question what was in the food they eat and to make it safer and healthier,” said former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg in a CSPI release.