The hidden power of corporations

McKee, Martin; Steele, Sarah; Stuckler, David

doi:10.1136/bmj.l4

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…GEBN was subsequently closed in November 2015, on which Coca-Cola declined to comment [5]. A 2019 article revealed Coca-Cola's funding of bodies like the International Life Sciences Institute in China, showing how the latter organisation is deployed to shape obesity science and related policy [6,7]. A feature in the British Medical Journal suggested also that the transparency list was incomplete, and highlighted how Coca-Cola acts to exercise 'soft power' by using its funding to influence everything from conferences to academic positions [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Always read the small print”: a case study of commercial research funding, disclosure and agreements with Coca-Cola

Steele

Ruskin²,

McKee

et al. 2019

J Public Health Pol

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Concerns about conflicts of interest in commercially funded research have generated increasing disclosure requirements, but are these enough to assess influence? Using the Coca-Cola Company as an example, we explore its research agreements to understand influence. Freedom of Information requests identified 87,013 pages of documents, including five agreements between Coca-Cola and public institutions in the United States, and Canada. We assess whether they allowed Coca-Cola to exercise control or influence. Provisions gave Coca-Cola the right to review research in advance of publication as well as control over (1) study data, (2) disclosure of results and (3) acknowledgement of Coca-Cola funding. Some agreements specified that Coca-Cola has the ultimate decision about any publication of peer-reviewed papers prior to its approval of the researchers' final report. If so desired, Coca-Cola can thus prevent publication of unfavourable research, but we found no evidence of this to date in the emails we received. The documents also reveal researchers can negotiate with funders successfully to remove restrictive clauses on their research. We recommend journals supplement funding disclosures and conflict-of-interest statements by requiring authors to attach funder agreements.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Always read the small print”: a case study of commercial research funding, disclosure and agreements with Coca-Cola

Steele

Ruskin²,

McKee

et al. 2019

J Public Health Pol

Self Cite

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“…However, in this new educative mode, critics argue that nutrition researchwhich shapes national dietary guidelines as well as public trust in certain foods-has been subject to politicization. For example, nutrition studies funded by industry are much more likely to yield results that are favorable to the industry donor's business operations (McKee, Steele, and Stuckler 2019;Nestle 2018).…”

Section: Partnering For Obesity Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite increasing access to "data," policy analysts do not come close to a smoking gun. There has thus been recent attention in public health to the exercise of soft power within the food industry, such as networks of influence, where industry actors simultaneously hold public positions or execute nonmarket roles (see, e.g., McKee, Steele, and Stuckler 2019;Thacker 2019).…”

Section: Theoretical Implications: the Data-gift In Other Industriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gift of Data: Industry-Led Food Reformulation and the Obesity Crisis in Europe

Campbell¹,

Browne²,

Claudy³

et al. 2021

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing

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Ultra-processed food manufacturers have proposed that product reformulation should be a key strategy to tackle obesity. In determining the impact of reformulation on population dietary behaviours, policy makers are often dependant on data provided by these manufacturers. Where such data are “gifted” to regulators there may be an implicit expectation of reciprocity that adversely influences nutrition policies. We sought to assess Europe’s industry-led reformulation strategy in five countries deploying critical policy studies as an approach. We found that interim results on industry-led food reformulation did not meet their targets. Information asymmetries exist between food industry and policy makers: the latter are not privy to marketing intelligence and must instead rely on data that are voluntarily donated by food industry actors. These data represent a distorted snippet of the marketing intelligence system from whence they came. Because these data indeed bear all the hallmarks of a gift, regulatory and public health authorities operate within a gift economy. The implications of this “data gift economy” are strategic delay and goal-setting when the field is not visible. Ultimately, this could diminish the implementation of public health nutrition policies that are contrary to the commercial interests of ultra-processed food producers.

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“…Autrement dit, il est possible qu'une perte de poids similaire soit observée en réduisant la consommation de sucre sans nécessairement avoir à substituer le sucre dans l'alimentation par des édulcorants. Il faut également noter que cette méta-analyse a reçu un soutien financier de la branche nord-américaine de l'International Life Sciences Institute (Institut International des Sciences Humaines), une organisation internationale à but non lucratif, mais financée et fortement influencée par les industries alimentaires [19][20][21]. Une revue systématique d'auteurs ayant bénéficié de subventions de recherche par l'industrie du sucre n'a également pas relevé d'évidence chez l'humain supportant l'augmentation de l'apport énergétique et du poids corporel en lien avec la consommation de substituts de sucre [22].…”

Section: Les Substituts De Sucre : Ennemis Du Microbiote ?unclassified

Les édulcorants de la controverse

Pepin

Imbeault

2020

Med Sci (Paris)

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La littérature révèle un lien important entre la consommation de boissons sucrées et des effets néfastes sur la santé humaine, comme la prévalence de l’obésité et des maladies métaboliques. Différentes stratégies ont été adoptées par de nombreux pays afin d’inciter la population à réduire leur consommation de boissons sucrées. Les industries alimentaires ont, quant à elles, promu les substituts de sucre (ou édulcorants), les présentant comme une saine alternative qui permettrait de réduire l’apport calorique sans avoir à compromettre l’agréable goût sucré des aliments et des boissons. Toutefois, l’utilisation des substituts de sucre comme moyen de limiter ou de réduire l’apport énergétique est-elle sans conséquence pour la santé ? Cette revue vise à discuter des différents effets associés à la consommation d’édulcorants sur la santé et à élucider si leur utilisation devrait être recommandée par les professionnels de la santé à leurs patients dans le cadre de la gestion de leur poids.

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The hidden power of corporations

Abstract: A lesson from China

Cited by 12 publications

References 12 publications

“Always read the small print”: a case study of commercial research funding, disclosure and agreements with Coca-Cola

“Always read the small print”: a case study of commercial research funding, disclosure and agreements with Coca-Cola

The Gift of Data: Industry-Led Food Reformulation and the Obesity Crisis in Europe

Les édulcorants de la controverse

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