Center for Science in the Public Interest

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit watchdog and consumer advocacy group that advocates for safer and healthier foods.

History and funding

CSPI is a consumer advocacy organization. Its focus is nutrition and health, food safety, and alcohol policy. CSPI is headed by Michael F. Jacobson, who founded the group in 1971 along with James Sullivan and Albert Fritsch, two fellow scientists from Ralph Nader's Center for the Study of Responsive Law. In the early days, CSPI focused on various aspects such as nutrition, environmental issues, and nuclear energy. However, after the 1977 departure of Fritsch and Sullivan, CSPI began to focus exclusively on nutrition and food safety.

CSPI has 501(c)(3) status. Its chief source of income is its Nutrition Action Health Letter, which has about 900,000 subscribers and does not accept corporate advertising. The organization receives about 5 to 10 percent of its $17 million annual budget from grants by private foundations.

Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île

The Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île (CSPÎ) is a francophone school board in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, based primarily in the city's east end. It serves Montréal-Nord, Saint-Léonard, Anjou, and Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles. It also serves Montréal-Est, a municipality outside of the Montreal city limits. Its headquarters is in the Pointe-aux-Trembles area of Montreal.

It was created by the government of Quebec on July 1, 1998, as part of a general restructuring from school boards representing religious communities to those representing linguistic communities. The CSPI replaced the former Commission scolaire Jérôme-Le Royer while also incorporating some francophone schools from other commissions. There were 27,500 students enrolled in schools associated with the board at the time of its founding; by 2011, the number had grown to 35,000.

The commission is overseen by a group of elected school commissioners. Vincenzo Arciresi has served as chair of the commission since its creation.