COKE PULLS STRINGS IN OBESITY STUDY
STUDIES funded by Coca-Cola diverted the blame for obesity away from sugar, a probe suggests.
Too much screen time, lack of exercise and sleep were highlighted as key factors in research backed by the soft drinks giant, says a Dispatches documentary.
The study insisted that “more work needed to be done” to confirm the role of diet.
Deborah Cohen of the British Medical Journal, who worked on the show, said: “It’s a diversionary tactic. Exercise is undoubtedly important for health, but a bad diet plays an important role in obesity.”
Other experts say that leaked e-mails between Coca-Cola and senior university staff show the corporation trying to derail the UK government’s planned sugar tax.
Dispatches also revealed meetings between Coca-Cola and MPs as part of its lobbying.
In “deeply disturbing” revelations, the show pointed out the firm’s close relationship with influential scientists.
The obesity study was published by Bath University last year.
The authors admitted it was paid for by Coca-Cola, but added: “The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”
However, the paper was part of wider global research, and Dispatches uncovered e-mails between Coca-Cola and Louisiana State University, which had led the study.
Professor Simon Capewell of Liverpool University said these showed “clear evidence of Coca-Cola being involved in the development and design of the study”.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a consultant cardiologist in London, said: “You can see Coca-Cola pulling the strings. The studies tend to be positive for them. When the studies are independent they are not.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. Commercial corruption of science and medicine is endemic. Science institutions collude with industry for financial gain at the expense of public health.”
Other leaked e-mails showed that Professor Alan Boobis, a food safety expert at Imperial College, London, was paid $1 000 (R12 582) a day by Coca-Cola to speak at an event and $10 000 to run a conference.
Professor Boobis told Dispatches he had never received any funding from the drinks giant for his research and that his links to them had always been made clear.
Coca-Cola said: “We don’t believe the softdrinks tax is an effective way to address obesity.” It added that the experts it worked with expressed their own professional opinions. Payments were to cover their time.
The University of Bath said its study was published after many external checks. – Daily Mail