Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7855

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Tanne JH.
Influential nutritional research often funded by industry, study finds
BMJ 2007 Jan 13; 334:(7584):62
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7584/62-a

Abstract:

Influential articles about nutritional research are often funded by industry and are four to eight times more likely to reach conclusions that find in favour of its products, says a study in PLoS Medicine (2007;4:e5).

Daniel Ludwig, an author and director of the Optimal Weight for Life programme at Children’s Hospital, a Harvard medical institution in Boston, told the BMJ, “It’s widely recognised that when a drug company pays for research, the results are likely to be favourable to the company. The question hasn’t been widely examined in funding for nutritional research. We don’t all take drugs, but we all eat.”

Industry support for nutritional studies is high, which could lead to bias in published research, he said.

The study says that nutritional research influences government and professional dietary recommendations, public health interventions, and regulation by the Food and Drug Administration of health claims by the manufacturers of food . . .