The Breakfast Council of “independent” nutrition experts that appeared on the website of Kellogg Co. was a paid panel given talking points by the giant food company, according to a copy of a contract and emails obtained by the Associated Press. Kellogg started the panel in 2011 and disbanded it this year, telling the AP that, as part of a review of its nutrition work, it decided not to continue the council.
Kellogg paid the experts an average of $13,000 a year, required them to post on social media and told them to report on their work, said AP. The council “deftly blurred the lines between cereal promotion and impartial nutrition guidance. The company used the council to teach a continuing education class for dietitians, publish an academic paper on breakfast, and try to influence the government’s dietary guidelines.”
The AP quoted an obesity expert at the University of Ottawa as saying the council’s ties to Kellogg were not clear, particularly since they were identified as “independent.”