The Center for Consumer Freedom is a lobbying and media group that advocates ‘consumer choice,’ specifically the choice to consume fast foods, alcohol, and tobacco. Originally founded with money from a grant from the Philip Morris company (and launching as the ‘Guest Choice Network’), the Center for Consumer Freedom is currently funded by a long list of food and restaurant companies, including Coco-Cola, Monsanto, Tyson Foods, and Applebees.

The Center’s web site indexes stories from affliated programs, such as FishScam.com, a site about mercury levels in fish, as well serving as host to many of the group’s television spots.

We eat red meat, drink alcohol, and smoke cigarettes nearly every day, without the incentive of advocacy from anyone but our stomachs and lungs. Americans have hardly any need to be convinced to consume things that are bad for them. If consumer choice were the Center’s true aim, one would hope they would encourage studies that show both the positive and deleterious effects of the products they advocate. Having the freedom to choose includes knowingly choosing the less healthy option.

Especially when that option is ‘smothered and covered.”

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