Center for Science in the Public Interest

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a consumer organization which undertakes research and advocacy programs, as well as providing consumers with information about health and well-being.

In 2010, they won a class-action suit against Coca-Cola, to have their misleading statements regarding Vitamin Water removed.

Their three main goals are:
 * To provide useful, objective information to the public and policymakers and to conduct research on food, alcohol, health, the environment, and other issues related to science and technology;
 * To represent the citizen's interests before regulatory, judicial and legislative bodies on food, alcohol, health, the environment, and other issues; and
 * To ensure that science and technology are used for the public good and to encourage scientists to engage in public-interest activities.

Food restriction advocacy
CSPI sees certain food ingredients as harmful, at least in the quantities that they're consumed in the developed world. They advocate government limits on those food ingredients. The three food items they seek limits on most fervently are:


 * salt;
 * sugary drinks, for which they advocate a tax; and
 * trans fat, for which they seek an outright ban.

CSPI's stance on trans fat represents a reversal of their position from the early 1990s. Before evidence of trans fat's unhealthfulness became available, CSPI advocated replacing the lard and tallow used for frying in fast food restaurants with partially hydrogenated oils, on the grounds of lowering the American intake of saturated fats.

CSPI has also petitioned the U.S. FDA to ban synthetic food dyes. A 2012 meta-analysis concluded that synthetic food dyes may have an effect on ADHD, but that a conclusion could not be drawn due to small sample sizes and publication bias.

Other food items CSPI has opposed include:
 * aspartame
 * nitrites
 * caramel color
 * azodicarbonamide, FoodBabe's infamous yoga mat chemical