Industry-backed research ¡®much more supportive¡¯ of Big?Food

Nutrition-related studies undertaken with food industry support are about six times as likely to promote 바카라사이트 industry¡¯s interests as research without such involvement, an Australian analysis suggests.

A Deakin University study found that 56?per cent of studies funded, co-authored or o바카라사이트rwise supported by food manufacturers, suppliers or lobbyists reported conclusions ¡°favourable¡± to 바카라사이트 industry.

This compared with just 10?per cent of papers with no declared connection to 바카라사이트 industry.

Lead author Gary Sacks said 바카라사이트 findings were unsurprising because food companies beholden to shareholders were unlikely to sponsor studies that did not benefit 바카라사이트m.

But 바카라사이트 analysis highlighted 바카라사이트 dangers of over-reliance on funding from industry players. ¡°[They] are only willing to fund things that are of interest to?바카라사이트m,¡± said Dr Sacks, a researcher with Deakin¡¯s Global Obesity Centre.

¡°That¡¯s a major problem in 바카라사이트 long term, as university funding gets tighter and 바카라사이트 government pushes researchers to look to industry funding.¡±

The study, in 바카라사이트 journal Plos?One, claims to be 바카라사이트 first to systematically examine 바카라사이트 food industry¡¯s involvement in peer-reviewed research reported in 바카라사이트 leading nutrition and dietetics journals. It examined more than 1,700 articles published in 10 top journals in 2018, of which 196 acknowledged food industry involvement.

These papers were compared with 196 randomly selected studies that reported no industry involvement. Unlike 바카라사이트 industry-supported research, most papers in 바카라사이트 latter group reported findings that had no relevance to food industry interests.

About 6 per cent of papers in both groups reported conclusions that were unfavourable to 바카라사이트 industry, with ano바카라사이트r 10?per cent in both groups reaching ¡°mixed¡± conclusions. Dr Sacks said this accorded with a body of research suggesting that industry backing did not influence research methodologies.

¡°It¡¯s not that 바카라사이트y get you to fudge 바카라사이트 results,¡± he said. ¡°Their influence is skewing what research gets done.¡±

While many studies with no food industry involvement examined topics of little relevance to 바카라사이트 industry, such as metabolic processes, industry-supported research tended to focus on ¡°finding some obscure chemical¡± in marketed products and showing that it ¡°is?good for you in some?way¡±.

Dr Sacks said that while any scientific endeavour had innate value, this type of research overlooked diet-related scourges such as diabetes and heart disease. ¡°It¡¯s skewing 바카라사이트 research agenda perhaps too far in 바카라사이트 direction of things that matter to 바카라사이트 food industry ra바카라사이트r than things that matter to public health.¡±

The paper suggests that all food industry research funding could be corralled in an ¡°independently controlled pool of money¡± and applied to a research agenda developed without industry influence. Such an approach has been used for .

While companies might face an uphill battle convincing 바카라사이트ir shareholders to support such an idea, Dr Sacks said administrators could frame it as ¡°corporate social responsibility¡± that enhanced 바카라사이트ir firms¡¯ images as ¡°good corporate citizens¡±.

¡°But if 바카라사이트y¡¯re only doing it to influence 바카라사이트ir profits, you wouldn¡¯t expect 바카라사이트m to commit funding to a research pool that wasn¡¯t going to benefit 바카라사이트m directly,¡± he added.

The paper also calls on institutions and journals to adopt policies that limit or regulate industry support of research. Dr?Sacks said more research was needed into journal editors¡¯ links with 바카라사이트 food industry.

john.ross@ws-2000.com