Medical Journal In Double Bubble with Apparent Beverage Industry Conflict

In its current issue, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition acknowledges that a review of soft drinks and obesity (which challenges links between the one and the other) was funded by the American Beverage Association. But the journal excludes information that one of the authors personally and professionally has had close ties to the beverage industry. "(T)he Associated Press reported last year that [Researcher Adam] Drewnowski owns stock in beverage companies and much of his prior research has been financed by the beverage industry," reports the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Another study by Drewnowski was funded by the Corn Refiners Association and American Beverage Institute. The journal article's co-author, France Bellisle, for his part, sits on an advisory board for McDonald's. Researchers, including CSPI staff, have written that industry-financed studies predictably reach conclusions favorable to the beverage companies.