Over on his Nutrition Facts blog, Friend to Dietitians For Professional Integrity Dr. Michael Greger just posted an excellent video on industry-funded research.
In it, Dr. Greger describes how alcohol and ultra-processed food and drink industries use strategies similar to the tobacco industry to undermine public health policies and programs. One such strategy, of course, is having health professionals — including doctors and dietitians — on retainer.
Watch the video for details on how industry spins science to deny harm and suppress health information.
Disturbingly, the same scientists-for-hire that downplayed the risks of second-hand smoke now go to bat for the likes of the National Confectioners Association (the candy lobby).
Keep in mind that the food industry has entire departments devoted exclusively to media and communications management. Most health experts on industry payroll are given very specific bullet points — and, in some cases, actual scripts — that dictate what they need to say to media.
Several decades back, advocates who pointed to Big Tobacco’s highly orchestrated glossy PR tactics were often dismissed as delusional, but we now have evidence (via leaked internal memos) of the massive web of deceit. Something tells us that, a few years down the road, we’ll start to see similar leaked memos involving Big Food and Big Soda.
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