Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230099
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIGID SCHULTE KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
They've been called the nation's nutrition nags for taking on Chinese food and movie popcorn, the diet terrorists for ruining a dinner of fettucine alfredo.
Now that they've shattered illusions about the all-American sandwich, just what do the fat cops themselves eat for lunch?
A peek in the fridge at the Center for Science in the Public Interest reveals: Chinese take-out boxes. Plates of left-over spaghetti. Full-fat Russian dressing. Black bean tamales. A pre-wrapped slice of American cheese.
``This is not for consumption,'' spokesman Art Silverman explained quickly, holding the cheese by its corner. ``A lot of the stuff in here is for testing and analysis.''
Same for the stick of butter, Hungry Man meat loaf dinners, Celeste Californian pizzas and the package of hot dogs in the freezer. But the Lite Miracle Whip, mustard, Garden Vegan burgers, pumpernickel bread and Ciao Bella mango lowfat frozen yogurt were edible items.
In fact, as the 50 CSPI staff members cycled through the crammed office kitchen for lunch Wednesday, most of them, though not purists, appeared to practice what CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson, the high priest of the low-fat diet, preaches.
And the thin-bordering-on-gaunt Jacobson is a hard act to follow. The microbiologist who founded the CSPI in 1971 with money from his own savings grew up on hamburgers and soda. Now lunch is homemade, fat-free lentil soup, a bagel with honey, or yogurt and a couple of pieces of fruit.
``Look, I don't rush out to buy Oreo cookies or sit down to a pint of Haagen-Dazs,'' he said. ``A splurge for me might be not having a one-cup serving of frozen yogurt, but a one-and-a-third cup serving.''
The biggest argument at the CSPI offices a few years ago was whether or not to have a coffee pot. ``The caffeinateds won,'' Silverman said. But not until a label was slapped on warning pregnant woman from indulging.
CSPI, which started in Jacobson's rented Washington town house, runs on a $10 million-a-year budget, primarily from subscriptions to its nutrition newsletter. Its work has changed menu offerings after exposing the hidden fat in Chinese, Mexican and Italian food and in movie theater popcorn.
In a study released Tuesday, CSPI analyzed 170 deli sandwiches from around the country and found that a tuna salad sandwich with mayo supplies a whole day's allowance of fat, or about 80 potato chips' worth.
Stephen Schmidt, who edits the Nutrition Action Health Letter, was so effusive about his plain baked sweet potato and homemade lentil, shiitake mushroom and kale soup that he coerced a visiting reporter to taste them. ``It looks disgusting, but it tastes great,'' he assured.
The potato, though it looked rotted, was sweet. The soup? Blech.
At lunchtime, Bonnie Liebman, who directs the nutrition program, toasted whole-wheat pitas and stuffed them with salad from a Safeway salad bar. She uses tuna salad as a dressing. ``I already knew about the fat before yesterday, I just didn't know how MUCH fat,'' Liebman said. ``But I like tuna salad, so I use it sparingly. We're not real strict around here. It's not like we sit around eating brown rice and seaweed.''
Good eating habits came slowly to Schmidt and Liebman: they both grew up on chicken-fat sandwiches and bread plastered with olives and cream cheese.
David Schardt, an associate nutritionist, sat in the cookbook-lined conference room with his usual lunch: hot and spicy Chinese soup and surimi with mixed vegetables from a nearby Chinese take-out restaurant.
But wait, didn't CSPI blast Chinese food for being high in fat and salt?
``There's some irony in that,'' Schardt said. ``After the study we were accused of being racist when in fact we were eating Chinese food all the time, and still do.''
In fact, CSPI Senior Nutritionist Jayne Hurley decided to look into Chinese food first just because so many CSPI staffers ate it every day. The tradition continues, only now, many no longer order the old Thursday special: ``killer'' kung pao chicken.
Hurley flushed when asked to show off her own lunch, a bowl of Chinese ramen noodle soup with spinach. ``The ramen's fine, fat-wise, but probably has too much salt,'' she said, ``and no, I haven't analyzed it.''
Her fat-free Creme Caramel yogurt has aspertame, an artificial sweetener.``We normally don't recommend aspertame ... but it was on sale.''
True to the ban on junk food in the office - a nearby sign shows a bottle of soda and a hot dog with a red line drawn through them - there were no Girl Scout cookies in the cupboards.
``You don't want to bring a Ding Dong in here, especially with Michael around,'' said Tom Clark, an accountant who had just finished his potato soup and fruit cocktail. ``You don't want to get caught.''
Jacobson has been known to dress down a staffer or two for poor eating habits.
But that doesn't mean that staffers don't have their yearnings. Silverman takes his Godiva chocolates one at a time. Cadbury cream-filled eggs are his assistant's vice. ``But I only eat them once a year,'' she said. And nutritionist Hurley? ``My all-time favorite is Key Lime pie.''
by CNB