Thread by @TuckerGoodrich

#duh 1/ Dieticians are corrupt.

"@eatright and its foundation... received food industry fundings via sponsorships, which are in effect quid pro quos. In a 2015 email, an Academy employee defined a sponsorship as “When a company pays a fee to the Academy/Foundation in return...

2/ "...for Academy/Foundation defined specific rights and benefits.”

"The email reveals the Academy in 2015 was in a sponsorship deal with Abbott and was discussing how the Academy could use its dietitians’ influence in pediatricians’ offices to push Pediasure...

3/ "...one of the pharmaceutical giant’s infant nutritional products. Abbott at the time had in place a two year, $300,000 sponsorship deal.

4/ "The Academy also owned Abbott stock at the time of the deal and plan, records show. It also owned stock in companies with which it had a sponsorship deal, PepsiCo, as well as financial contributors, like Nestlé."

5/ "“That is astounding,” Ruskin said. “That belongs in the conflict of interest hall of fame – it is off the charts.”

6/ "Academy leadership at the time seemed to be aware of the optics.

“I personally like @PepsiCo and do not have any problems with us owning it, but I wonder if someone will say something about that,” wrote the then Academy treasurer, Donna Martin, in a 2014 email. “Hopefully...

7/ "...they will be happy like they should be! I personally would be OK if we owned @CocaCola stock!!”

8/ "About $4.5m of corporate funding from companies like @GeneralMills went to an initiative called the “Champions Program”, which granted funds to hundreds of [NGO]s to support projects “promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles for children and their families”.

9/ To fight the obesity epidemic @eatright promotes, I'm sure.

"The study also highlights the revolving door between the Academy and industry. Among its staff and board members are current and former public relations staff for companies that represent big food, as well...

10/ "...as consultants or employees for large food entities like Monsanto, @SodexoGroup , the Sugar Association, @Bayer and the International Food Information Council, and industry front group."

11/ "The Academy, previously called the American Dietetic Association, has appeared to be under the control of big food interests for “as long as I have been familiar with the Academy”, said @marionnestle, a nutritionist and public health advocate who wrote about the ties...

12/ "...in her 2002 book, Food Politics. She said the financial ties raise “fundamental questions about credibility”.

"“How can the Academy advise the public to avoid ultra-processed foods, for example, if it is funded by the makers of those foods?” she asked....

13/ "“The issue of trust is critical to nutrition advising. The Academy looks like it represents the food industry, not the public interest.”"

It clearly doesn't represent the public interest.

14/ "Revealed: group shaping US nutrition receives millions from big food industry"

theguardian.com/science/2022/d…