CSPI Lawyers Using Relatives to Spread Lies
Talk about a conflict of interest. The AP put out a laughable story today about a Vienna VA mom of three named Maureen Cohen. Maureen, who lives in an upscale neighborhood here in Northern Virginia thinks that she can plant stories in the press to scare other moms from going to McDonald’s, eating cookies, or even bread and mashed potatoes. She lies when she claims that she “was curious” about a molecular compound that occurs in foods when they are cooked, and lies when she claims she was horrified to find out that food producers don’t label their food with the contents of this compound.
The fact is that Maureen’s father in law is the rabid head lawyer of CSPI, who is constantly filing frivolous lawsuits against the FDA demanding that the rest of America become vegetarians and abandon the idea of cooking their food.
From the AP here:
Maureen Cohen read a newspaper article about cancer-causing acrylamide in her kids’ favorite snacks and wanted to know more.
That is lie number one. Maureen knew full well that her father in law is heavily active in lawsuits against the FDA over acrylamide. Either she lied to the reporter about how she found out or the reporter knew all along and made this part up.
“I just got curious,” said Cohen, a mother of three in Vienna, Va. “If it’s known that it’s a cancer-causing substance, I sure would like somebody to look into it and find out.”
Lie number two. She did not just suddenly “get curious.” Her father in law works locally in Washington DC and has pursued this issue for a few years now. After a series of defeats over the issue with the FDA, she thought that a new round of scare tactics in the press might help the family cashflow.
Acrylamide turns up in all kinds of tasty foods, including french fries, potato chips, breakfast cereals, cookies and crackers. But it’s difficult for consumers to figure out how much acrylamide is in a particular meal or snack.
Nobody puts acrylamide in food. The chemical is a natural byproduct of cooking starchy food at high temperature.
Cohen looked on the Food and Drug Administration Web site to see how much acrylamide was in her potato chips ? reduced-fat Pringles ? but that kind of Pringles wasn’t listed. She called the company but was told to provide a letter from her doctor.
This is lie number three. Cohen knew full well how much acrylamide was in Pringles. Its even listed on the website at cspinet.org. But more importantly is the fact that Pringles was targeted because its parent company, Proctor and Gamble, has been in a long-running lawsuit with CSPI over olestra, the fat substitute that was approved by the FDA for its potato chip line.
Then she mentioned it to her father-in-law, who works for a nutrition and health advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Lie number Four. This was a coordinated effort between the lawyer Benjamin Cohen and his family to engineer this story with the Press. The fact that Maureen Cohen has a family three kids is supposed to make her look like a victim of corporate greed and unassailable in her complaints because she is a “concerned mother.”
Maureen Cohen doesn’t want to eliminate foods from her family’s diet. She just wants more information ? such as the warning signs the state of California is trying to make McDonald’s and other companies post about acrylamide.
Lie number Five. As a Virginia resident, what does Maureen care about California law? And Maureen does not want to eliminate foods from her family’s diet? Good thing or else they would starve. But she should probably be investigated for child abuse if she is feeding her kids nothing but uncooked vegetables.
Maureen Cohen is a lying, busybody, bossy woman who wants to remove the joy from everyone’s dietary lives.
For the truth on what CSPI stands for, see their profile at ActivistCash.com here.
