Yesterday the Center for Science in the Public Interest released its distorted list of what it calls the "riskiest" foods. More than a few observers questioned why, for instance, CSPI insisted on claiming tuna was the third most risky food to eat when by its own calculations eight other foods on the list caused more illnesses.
NFI is advising reporters and editors to treat the claims made earlier today by CSPI with skepticism
October 6, 2009 Washington - The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is advising reporters and editors to treat the claims made earlier today by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) regarding food-borne illnesses, including fresh tuna and oysters, with skepticism, and further urges them to contact NFI directly for comment. Among other things, CSPI's list ranks foods based on number of outbreaks rather than number of reported illnesses thus distorting which foods are associated with actual risk of illness.
Seafood is a safe and healthy product that is an essential part of the American diet. CSPI has a history of attempting to scare consumers by playing fast and loose with definitions that might mislead the casual reader.
For further details, reporters and editors should consult the following entries on NFI's media blog: Things to Consider When Covering CSPI's Latest Report and An Outbreak of Distortion.
It is important to note that by focusing only on the FDA, the CSPI report simply ignores beef, chicken and pork-the proteins Americans eat the most of and a category CSPI admits is ‘high risk' for food-borne illness. Reporters and consumers should take this report with a grain of salt and a heaping helping of perspective, that's why NFI recommends getting your health and food safety information from doctors and dietitians not the lawyers and lobbyists who work for CSPI.
For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.
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Contact Information:
Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891
ggibbons@nfi.org
The following fall under the category of, did you know?
Did you know that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is headed up by a lawyer? Did you know that by trade she's a lobbyist not a scientist?
Did you also know that until she was exposed in a front page story as a lawyer/lobbyist and not a scientist she was being considered by the Obama administration to run the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service?
Later this morning the scaremongers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest will be holding a news conference detailing what it says are the "top 10 riskiest foods" the FDA needs to pay closer attention to. It's important for reporters to note that by focusing on FDA the report excludes beef, chicken and some egg products, which means that the vast majority of proteins eaten by Americans aren't even considered.
In its latest press release The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) announces breathlessly that "Fish & Shellfish Top CSPI Outbreak List." But it's the words inside the 23 page report that expose that pronouncement as yet another seafood scare story that doesn't hold up when challenged.
