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Below are images of all the " health experts
" being paid by coca cola. The list is publically available at the address below:
http://transparency.coca-colacompany.com/health-professionals-and-scientific-experts
It was financial deception that caused the 2008 American financial crisis . Is similar deception occurring masking evidence that sugar contributes to obesity? Being a longevity health nutrition writer, I write based on truth and facts. When I see deception occurring, especially in health matters related to nutrition, it is my duty to report it, with as much factual evidence as possible leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions. You can imagine my surprise when I learned that 57 percent of dietitiansserving on Cokes "health panel" were paid by Coke.
Let's first start with the facts:
Fact #1:
"We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10 per cent of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay. "
Quoted by Dr Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. For an adult of a normal body mass index (BMI), that works out to about 6 teaspoons of sugar per day
Fact #2:
A single can of sugar-sweetened soda contains approximately 10 teaspoons of sugars.
Fact #3:
A 12-ounce can of regular Coke contains approximately 9 teaspoons of sugar.
Quote by Katherine Zeratsky of the Mayo Clinic:
" Drinking a reasonable amount of diet soda a day, such as a can or two, isn't likely to hurt you
."
1 Pepsi a day increases Diabetes risk by 18%
Recent studies have also shown that people who are obese have a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. A study titled: Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages, and fruit juice and incidence of type 2 diabetes: systematic review, meta-analysis, and estimation of population attributable fraction
, published in July 2015 and conducted by Fumiaki Imamura, and colleagues, concluded that people drinking one sugar-sweetened soft drink (such as a soda or sweetened tea) every day showed an 18 percent increase in developing diabetes, compared to those who did not drink soft drinks on a regular basis. The data from the study came from pooling data from 17 previously published studies showing a link between sugary drinks and the risk of contracting diabetes depending on sugar intake. Additional data found that people who were thin or average weight drinking one sugary drink per day showed a 13 percent increased risk of contracting diabetes.
The results of an experiment drinking 10 cans of coke a day.
Now are some of these "experts" affiliated with Coca Cola? Let's find out.
The previous 10 years of Coca-Cola’s annual reports to the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that obesity on human health was the greatest threat to its profits. Since than Coke has aggressively stepped up its lobbying efforts. Some of these profits are spent convincing respected scientific researchers and health professionals to view coca cola sodas as benign. The Mayo Clinic
Proceedings published a study
arguing the results of dietary surveys, linking sugary drinks to type-2 diabetes constitutes a misuse of public funds. The authors report receiving speaking and consulting fees from Coca-Cola.
Dr. Edward Archer joined the Nutritional Obesity Research Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham in January of 2015. He is an obesity theorist and computational physiologist, and has a broad interdisciplinary background with graduate degrees and training in physiology, psychology, nutrition, exercise science, and epidemiology. His research spans the continuum of human bioenergetics, from the physiology of nutrient energy partitioning to national nutrition surveillance and chronic non-communicable disease epidemiology. He has authored numerous scientific publications that have been profiled in the New York Times, ABC News with Diane Sawyer, L.A. Times, Huntington Post, and many other media outlets.
Dr. Archer wrote the study titled: " The Inadmissibility of What We Eat in America and NHANES Dietary Data in Nutrition and Obesity Research and the Scientific Formulation of National Dietary Guidelines ". Dr. Edward Archer has received honoraria from the International Life Sciences Institute and the Coca-Cola Company.
Coca-Cola has publicly disclosed its practice of paying health professionals and respected researchers millions of dollars. It spent over $21.8 million to fund pro-industry research. $96.8 million also went to partnerships with health organizations. $2.1 million of this money has also been paid to "health experts." Coca-Cola's website states "health experts" were paid professional fees , travel grants and related expenses.
Let's take a look at the "experts" paid by coke and their area of expertise:
6 percent (7) are fitness experts, 5 percent (6) are authors, 3 percent (3) are chefs, and 1 percent (1) are food representatives.
57 percent (65) are dietitians, 20 percent (23) are academics, 7 percent (8) are medical professionals (mostly Doctors),
If we examine where these people live they reside in California and Texas (obviously states where sales of Coca Cola are in decline)
63 percent of these "experts" are highly popular on social media. They have more than 80,000 followers on Twitter with more than 150,000 likes on Facebook. These people have been paid by Coke because they are effective communicators whose influence is far reaching. This is something Coke can't do on its own, especially if it wants to mask the increase in American Obesity.
Many of the dietitians funded by Coke have appeared regularly on local TV segments as experts. They also actively maintain food blogs and write health and nutrition articles. Some of their articles include showing busy moms how to pack a healthy lunch box and include using Coke as a healthy snack. Sylvia Klinger, a person on the Coca Cola payroll suggests “drinking a mini Coke can with mini sliders", giving an impression that you can cut down portion sizes while watching the Superbowl. (Sports are used as a distraction for the realities of life).
Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, stated on CNN that he ate only Twinkies for 10 weeks (one of these sugary cakelets every three hours) and lost 27 pounds. It just so happened that upon closer examination, Mark Haub was paid by Coca-Cola
One day she decided to invent a "coke cake" which happened to use coca cola. It is now shown on www.marthastewart.com
. It just so happens that Virginia Willis is on the Coke payroll. This is a smart move by Coke, because when you enter the search term Virginia Willis + Coke, in the Internet, you get in the top results "Coca Cola Cake" not Virginia Willis Coca Cola payroll, making it harder to track down who is paid by coke and who isn't.
The primary objective of the soda industry is to target those who don't exercise and making it their fault for their obesity.
Three respected scientific researchers, Dr. Steven Blair of the University of South Carolina, Dr. Greg Hand of the University of West Virginia, and Dr. James Hill of the University of Colorado started the nonprofit organization titled: “Global Energy Balance Network”. The primary focus of this group is to state that obesity occurs due to overeating and the real culprit for obesity is exercise. All three of these people are on the Coke payroll and received substantial funding from Coca-Cola. Critics have also accused the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) of supporting GEBN.
The Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) has been characterized as an astroturfing. (Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participant).
Two more respected health professionals, Louisiana cardiologist Dr. Carl "Chip" Lavie, and Baton Rouge family physician Dr. Rani Whitfield, also known as The Hip Hop Doc were paid by Coke to serve as consultants. Dr. Carl authored a book implying it is the lack of physical activity and not sugar causing American obesity. When asked about this, Dr. Carl and Dr. Rani refused to indicate how much money they were paid by Coca-Cola. Lavie has also received consulting as well as speaking fees from Coca-Cola.
The below webpage gives an excellent idea of how coke is using dietitians and experts to push coke as a "healthy choice" http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/q-a-with-three-of-coca-colas-health-professional-partners/
In summary I will leave it up to the reader to look at these facts for himself / herself and draw a sound conclusion as to whether or not large corporations are misleading the public into believing that excessive sugar consumption is causing obesity. While I am not one that likes to make laws banning sugar or other restrictive type of action, I do believe in making public what studies corporations are funding, who they are funding, how much their experts and consultants are paid and how their "expertise" and studies compare to similar scientific studies that are independently performed by outside agencies.
It is a plain fact that as time goes on, more and more of the truth about what really causes obesity will come to light, and if some of these companies are trying to cover up the truth, then they should be held accountable for their actions of betraying the public trust. That is far better justice than writing more laws and "banning sugar".
References to Obesity and Sugar
List of all "health experts" as of late 2015 paid by coca cola.