Is the leading nutrition science group in big food’s pocket?
By Luke Whelan, Mother Jones
Figuring out whom to trust for nutritional advice can be a daunting task; new findings on everything from the dangers of sugar to the health benefits of leftover pasta seem to come out every day, and the “experts” behind them often have ulterior motives.
According to a report released this week, even venerable nutritional science organizations and the journals they publish can’t be trusted.
Public health lawyer Michele Simon explores how corporate interests influence the findings of one of these research organizations: the American Society for Nutrition. The nearly 90-year-old nonprofit, comprising 5,000 scientists and experts, publishes theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition and claims to “bring together the world’s top researchers, clinical nutritionists and industry to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition for the sake of humans and animals.”
But according Simon, the group’s coziness with corporate sponsors calls its research into question.