CONFUSED by conflicting advice on nutrition? Perhaps it鈥檚 best to ignore conclusions drawn from studies backed by the beverage industry. It seems that corporate funding of research into non-alcoholic drinks may bias findings in favour of manufacturers鈥� products.
Since funding from the drug industry is known to bias published research, David Ludwig of the Children鈥檚 Hospital Boston wondered whether the same was true for studies of nutrition. He focused on the beverage industry, which is often blamed for promoting obesity, diabetes and poor dental health.
Ludwig鈥檚 team examined 206 scientific papers on the health effects of soft drinks, fruit juice and milk, 111 of which declared their funding source. They found that industry-backed papers were more than seven times as likely to produce a conclusion favouring a company鈥檚 product (PLoS Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040005).
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The reasons for the bias are unclear, but could include a failure to publish unfavourable findings, or a tendency for firms to back studies likely to show their products in a positive light.
Ludwig says governments should invest more in nutritional research as a public health measure to counter industry bias. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a poor trade-off to save money on research and base nutritional policy on a flawed scientific database,鈥� he argues.
