Should we welcome food industry funding of public health research?

Abstract

Researchers should accept research grants from the food industry, write Paul Aveyard and Derek Yach, but Anna B Gilmore and Simon Capewell say that it biases science

Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease Research

“…Whether current conflict of interest policies are adequate to withstand the economic interests of industry remains unclear. 54 …”

Dietary guidelines and health—is nutrition science up to the task?

“…The optimal role for industry in nutrition research remains unclear 3233. Given the scale of diet related diseases, funding for research on foods and nutrients is limited.…”

What principles should guide interactions between population health researchers and the food industry? Systematic scoping review of peer‐reviewed and grey literature

“…This included two elements: the appropriateness of accepting funds from the food industry and the governance processes for accepting funds. There was a variety of principles related to the appropriateness of accepting funding; these ranged from not accepting any commercial funding to not accepting funding from the food industry or the ultraprocessed food industry . Alternatively, for those who believed it was appropriate to accept funding, some suggested that it should go through an independent, intermediary body, whilst others actively encouraged direct relationships between researchers and the food industry …”

“…Kraak and Story and Rowe et al encouraged a more moderate approach for assessing food companies, proposing interactions only with those who share objectives or have a shared approach to the research. Others provided more explicit guidance for assessing potential food companies with which to interact, stating that an interaction should only be initiated if it helps to advance public health goals and that companies selling or promoting unhealthy foods should be avoided …”

“…The majority of documents stated it was essential to plan research objectively and develop a clear research protocol outlining all roles, responsibilities, goals and objectives, and research methods before the research commenced. Several documents encouraged an extra level of accountability through the involvement of independent third parties, either for data analysis or oversight . Many of the research governance principles can be considered generic principles of good research practise and not specific to minimizing conflicts of interest.…”