Phil Sokolof Dies at Age 82, His Life Saving Messages Endure

Published on: April 16, 2004

He was a friend that I hadn't spoken to in almost three years, and was dismayed when I picked up the newspaper Friday morning in yet another airport to find that Phil Sokolof had died. We had met in the green room of some television program in some city long forgotten. But our mission that day, and since, had been the same - to tell the public about the foods they were eating. The whole truth. Phil was on a mission to provide life saving messages to the world, and as a successful businessman and self made multi-millionaire he had spent nearly 15 million dollars of his own money to change the way people eat. Founder of the Omaha-based foundation, National Heart Savers Association started in 1985, Sokolof launched a cholesterol testing campaign. His efforts were inspired by his own brush with death when he suffered from a heart attack in 1965. His cholesterol level at that time was 300, and he admitted to living on a diet of greasy foods. After testing approximately 200,000 people, he took a trip to Washington D.C. where he organized the testing of 10,000 people on Capitol Hill in five days and established April as National Know Your Cholesterol Month. The cholesterol campaign was only the beginning.

His next effort was to put pressure on companies to remove dangerous oils from foods. Using a tactic that would undermine the credibility of companies ultimately forcing them to remove these ingredients, he ran a full page major newspaper advertising campaign titled "The Poisoning of America." The full-page ad named specific companies using tropical oils. Companies like General Mills began to remove the oils from their products. "The Poisoning of America" ad was followed by with another campaign asking for legislation that would require nutrition labels on all food products.

Phil passed away at the age of 82. A vibrant, smart and caring man that put his heart and money on the line to make a change in the way Americans eat. With restaurant chains scrambling to introduce healthier menu items as a result of pressure, we have Sokolof to thank for running that ad back in the early 1990s that read “McDonald’s, Your Hamburgers Have Too Much Fat!” We can only imagine how much healthier America would be today if more of us, and more food companies, had listened to Phil. Rest in Peace, Phil - the world is a better place becuase of your work and message. Thank you.

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