Buying Their Silence: How the Food Industry Influences Research
how the big food industry muffles criticism
This is about buying the silence of those who dare to speak out against harmful practices that endanger children's health. This is about the food and beverage industry offering tempting deals to academics, health advocates, and organizations etc., with one unspoken condition: “Do not criticize us”.
The Tactics
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Funding research: Big food companies often fund studies that are likely to produce favorable results, potentially skewing the overall body of research.
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Personal Attacks : Researchers who publish critical findings sometimes face personal and professional smear campaigns.
How do they attack them ?
Food companies monitor academics, nutritionists and activists who express skepticism t owards their claims or who lobby for greater industry regulation.
For example, Sydney academic Lisa Bero, who studies the integrity of industry-sponsored research and how it influences public policy, and American nutritionist Marion Nestle who frequently speaks out against Coca-Cola’s corporate practices have been few people that were monitored.
F&B companies attend talks given by these individuals to monitor their work and sometimes they use their influence and power to threaten and silence these individuals.
In Colombia, health activist Dr Esperanza Cerón received death threats in response to her efforts to discourage excessive consumption of sugary drinks by children.
Cerón became the most visible proponent of a proposed tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) that was headed for a vote in Colombia’s legislature raising funds and producing a provocative ad on how SSBs lead to obesity and other diet- related illnesses.
The ad prompted fierce backlash and the soda industry complained that it was misleading to the Colombian Government, which ordered it off-air and prohibited Ceron and her colleagues from discussing the health risks of sugar in public under the penalty of $250k fine.
3 . Bribing professors: One large food company asked Chris Van Tulleken if he would be interested in giving a half-hour talk to its senior team, for a fee of £20,000. However, if he agreed, there was a clause binding him not to disparage the firm in public statements.
The cost of silence
The silencing of voices has far-reaching consequences: Compromised Public Health: When research is suppressed or manipulated, policymakers and the public lack the information needed to make informed decisions about nutrition and health.
1.
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Lack of Academic Freedom: The fear of reprisal can lead to self-censorship among researchers.
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Misinformed Consumers: Without access to unbiased research, consumers may make decisions based on industry-crafted narratives rather than scientific evidence.
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Long-term Health Impacts: Particularly concerning is the potential long-term impact on children's health when research on targeting children and adolescents is suppressed.
“Ta ذغ iya” by Sarah Zahr
Breaking the silence
If you are an advocate of healthy food environments and children’s right to health, continue to speak out, refuse to let financial incentives to dictate your actions.
Sources
- 1. Evans, RebLorenzo, Analía, ‘What One Woman Endures to Tell Truth to Power: When interference meddles dangerously with fact’, NCD Alliance, 12 August 2019. < woman-endures-to-tell-truth-to-power-when-interference-meddles-dangerously-with-fact>, n.p.. Ncdalliance.org ncdalliance.org
- 2. Jacobs, Andrew and Matt Richtel, ‘She took on Colombia’s Soda Industry. Then She was Silenced’, The New York Times, 13 November 2017, n.p..
