Michael F. Jacobson

Michael F. Jacobson (born July 29, 1943), who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is an American scientist and nutrition advocate.

Jacobson co-founded the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 1971, along with two fellow scientists (James B. Sullivan, Albert J. Fritsch) he met while working at the Center for the Study of Responsive Law in Washington, DC.

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.

"Soda is the quintessential junk food—just sugar calories and no nutrients," says Jacobson.

"Americans are drowning in soda pop—teenagers, in particular. The average teenage boy is consuming two cans of soda pop a day."

Jacobson proposes 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 once asked a CBS News reporter: "Obesity is an epidemic. One-third of youths already are overweight or obese. Are we just going to sit around and do nothing? Or should we do something—a modest, sensible step of putting a health message on cans and bottles?"

When his colleagues left CSPI in 1977, Jacobson became its executive director.

Beginning in 1993, Jacobson spearheaded efforts to require that artificial trans fat, a potent cause of heart disease, 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.

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.

In 2017 he was replaced as the executive director by Peter Lurie and held the position of Senior Scientist; he remained on the board of directors of the organization until 2022.

He has been a national leader in the movement for healthier diets, focusing both on education and obtaining laws and regulations.

It was Jacobson who coined the now widely used phrases "junk food" and "food porn".

In 2022 Jacobson founded the National Food Museum.

Jacobson and his organization have both publicized healthy diets and criticized a wide variety of foods and beverages as unhealthful.

He and CSPI frequently use colorful terms to emphasize their opposition to certain foods, for instance referring to fettuccine alfredo as a "heart attack on a plate".

In addition to publicizing concerns about or praise for foods, Jacobson lobbied for improvements in government (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 sustainably produced food and a grassroots campaign for better policies.

Jacobson stepped down as executive director of CSPI in October 2017 and then, 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.

In 2022, after he resigned from CSPI's board of directors and his position as senior scientist, Jacobson founded the National Food Museum.

That nascent institution "explores food in all its dimensions."

The museum's exhibits and other activities will focus on the history of the human and American diets, food marketing, ethnic cuisines, farm animal welfare, and, especially, the impact of food and farming on health and the environment.

Due to the public-interest passion he brings to his efforts 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 (0.5 usgal)—a thousand calories, almost!—of soda pop in a single serving... We've come a long way from the six-and-a-half ounce (6.5 usfloz) Coke bottles some 50 years ago."

The FDA banned that oil in 2015, with June 18, 2018, being the effective date to stop using it.

He also led efforts to reduce the sodium content of processed foods, such as soups, snack foods, and processed meats.

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.

To bring about changes in eating habits, Jacobson advocates higher taxes on unhealthy foods, greater use of 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 such harmful ingredients as urethane (a carcinogen) in alcoholic beverages, sulfite preservatives (deadly allergen) in fresh vegetables, wine, and other foods; sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite (sources of cancer-causing nitrosamines) in bacon and other processed meats; olestra (an artificial fat); and acrylamide (a carcinogenic contaminant) 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.