A prominent medical journal published what The New York Times called a “scathing attack on global health advice to eat less sugar,” arguing that such recommendations were based on weak evidence. Just as quickly, however, critics of the study claimed that it was biased.
The study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, received funding from the International Life Sciences Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based group funded by multinational food and agrochemical companies, including Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, General Mills, Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s and Monsanto, the Times said.
“Critics say the medical journal review is the latest in a series of efforts by the food industry to shape global nutrition advice by supporting prominent academics who question the role of junk food and sugary drinks in causing obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other health problems,” the Times said.
“This comes right out of the tobacco industry’s playbook: cast doubt on the science,” Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, told the Times. “This is a classic example of how industry funding biases opinion. It’s shameful.”
The lead author of the new paper, Bradley Johnston, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Toronto and McMaster University, told the Times he was aware the new study would be criticized because of its ties to industry. But he said he “hoped people would not ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ by dismissing the conclusion that sugar guidelines should be developed with greater rigor.”
The Times said Johnston also emphasized that he was not suggesting that people eat more sugar. The review article, he said, “should not be used to justify higher intake of sugary foods and beverages.”