With Authors’ Ties to Beverage Industry, McDonalds Unrevealed: Nutrition Review Questions Soda-Obesity Link Can you artificially sweeten the scientific literature? The latest American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (subscription required), in a review questioning the link between consuming sugar-sweetened drinks and rising obesity rates, failed to reveal the two authors’ financial ties to the beverage industry. Although the journal disclosed that the review was paid for by the American Beverage Association, whose member companies include Coca-Cola and Pepsi, authors Adam Drewnowski of the University of Washington and France Bellisle of the Institut National de Recherché Agronomique in France reported that they had no other conflicts of interest. However, the Associated Press reported last year that Drewnowski owns stock in beverage companies and much of his prior research has been financed by the beverage industry. Last month, the Seattle Times reported that a University of Washington study led by Drewnowski on high-fructose corn syrup was financed by the Corn Refiners Association and American Beverage Institute. Bellisle, meanwhile, sits on an advisory board for McDonald's, which sells large amounts of Coca-Cola products. The review suggested that weight gain associated with drinking sweetened beverages may be due to other factors since studies have shown that consuming sugar-containing liquids in lieu of regular meals can lead to "significant and sustained weight loss.” However, those studies involved nutrient-fortified meal-replacement beverages, not soft drinks. . . . While Report Says Industry Soda Studies Underplay Health Problems A new Yale University report found that studies funded by industry are much less likely to show detrimental effects from soft drinks than studies that did not receive industry funding. The article analyzed 88 studies identified through databases such as MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. "Studies funded by the food industry simply did not find the degree of negative health effects from soft drinks that independent scholars discovered," Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, said in a statement. Brownell co-authored the study, which will appear in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health, with fellow Yale researchers Lenny Vartanian and Marlene Schwartz. Source: Integrity in Science Watch The Integrity in Science Database of Scientists and Organizations With Ties to Industry can be found at: www.integrityinscience.org. Send tips for inclusion in the Database to science@cspinet.org. March 12, 2007 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.