Take Action
Ask Congress to Fund Critical Food Safety Programs
For the second year running, a multi-state E. coli outbreak is forcing Americans to question whether the lettuce we put on our holiday tables will be safe to eat. At the same time, your members of Congress are currently deciding how much funding to provide the government in the coming year, including key investments in food safety.
Tell Congress: Stop Pork Deregulation!
An important measure to protect pork inspection is being considered in Congress—but we still need your help. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives approved language in the 2020 federal funding bill that would block the US Department of Agriculture from deregulating pork inspection.
Urge Denny’s to Improve Its Kids’ Meals
Children eat about a quarter of their calories from restaurants. When kids eat out, they typically consume more calories, added sugars, and sugary drinks and fewer fruits, vegetables, and whole grains than when they eat at home. Given the large role restaurant foods play in children’s diets and the high demand by parents for healthier options for their kids, restaurants should do more to support healthy eating for children.
Urge media companies to stop running junk food ads during children’s programming
A new CSPI report, Changing the Channels: How Big Media Helps Big Food Target Kids (and What to Do about It), found that the number of unhealthy foods and beverages advertised during children’s programming has not decreased since 2012. However, the amount of junk food advertising to kids varies widely between channels. PBS, Univision, Disney (Disney, Disney Jr., and Disney XD), and Nick Jr.
Act today: one million kids could lose access to school meals under Trump proposal
Tell Congress to fund critical nutrition initiatives
Congress must support efforts to address the risks from excessive sodium in food and facilitate transparency for consumers, allowing them to make more informed choices for themselves and their families about what they eat.
Help Stop Swine Slaughter Deregulation
Despite massive public opposition, the Trump administration's USDA is moving forward with plans to privatize and deregulate meat inspection. Not only are they privatizing work performed by USDA inspectors, they are removing caps on slaughter line speeds and pushing forward without a Salmonella testing standard in place.
Tell USDA to Prevent Misleading “No Nitrates” Claims on Processed Meat
Tell the USDA to stop requiring that processed meat be labeled as “Uncured,” and/or “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added*” when they have been processed using non-synthetic sources of added nitrate and nitrite, such as celery powder. These claims are misleading, and could be tricking consumers into believing that some processed meat is healthier, when that’s not the case.
Urge restaurants to do better for kids
Given the large role of restaurant foods in children’s diets and high customer demand for healthier options, restaurants should do more to support healthy eating by children. That includes taking sugary drinks off their kids' menus.
Tell USDA: Access the Full Range of Quality Evidence for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines
Inaccurate and conflicting messages about what to eat are pervasive, often resulting from a single, flawed study. That’s why the Dietary Guidelines synthesis of all the evidence is so important. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that combine findings, excluding poorly conducted or biased studies, more accurately evaluate the relationships between diet and health. Urge the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee and USDA to allow the review of all high-quality systematic reviews, not just USDA's own.
