Press release
For Immediate Release: Monday, October 24the 2022 at 7 pm Eastern Time
For more information, contact: Gary Ruskin, [email protected]+1 415 944 7350
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics accepted millions of dollars from food, pharmaceutical and agribusiness companies, had policies to grant favors in return and invested in shares of ultra-processed food companies, according to a report. to study published today in public health nutrition.
the Academy says it is “the world’s largest organization of nutrition and dietetics professionals” representing “more than 112,000 credentialed professionals,” including registered dietitian nutritionists and other food and nutrition professionals.
The study was produced by public health academics and US Right to Know, a nonprofit public health research group that obtained tens of thousands of pages of internal Academy documents through state public records requests.
The study describes a “symbiotic relationship” between the Academy and corporations, and found that the Academy acts as a “voice for industry” with political positions that sometimes conflict with its mission to improve health globally.
“The documents reveal a depressing chapter of corruption in this influential nutrition group,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of US Right to Know and one of the study’s co-authors. “If we are going to be healthier, live longer and reduce our staggering rates of obesity and diabetes, we need to root out corruption in health groups like the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.”
The study reveals that the Academy accepted more than $15 million from corporate and organizational taxpayers in the years 2011 and 2013-2017, according to its draft IRS Form 990.
The top contributors to the Academy in 2011 and 2013-2017 were: National Dairy Council $1,496,912; Conagra Inc. $1,414,058; Abbott Nutrition $1,246,389; Abbott Laboratories $824,110; And Foundation 801,261; PepsiCo Inc. $486,335; Coca-Cola Co. $477,577; Hershey Co. $368,032; General Mills Inc. $309,733; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality $296,495; Aramark Co. $293,051; Unilever’s Best Foods $276,791; Kellogg USA $273,272.
Here are the Academy IRS 990 drafts (with donor data) for 6/11-5/12, 6/13-5/14, 6/14-5/15, 6/15-5/16 Y 6/16-5/17as well as for his foundation for 6/12-5/13 Y 6/13-5/14.
The documents show that the Academy and its foundation invested funds in ultra-processed food companies. The Academy Investment Portfolio in January 2015 included $244,036 in shares held in Nestlé SA and $139,545 in PepsiCo. the Academy Foundation Investment Portfolio as of June 2013 included $209,472 in equity holdings in Nestlé SA and $125,682 in PepsiCo.
“Nutrition groups shouldn’t buy ultra-processed food stocks. They are a full blast conflict of interest,” Ruskin said. “Public health groups should not invest in companies that make products that harm our health or directly conflict with their mission.”
The Academy seems to have allowed quid pro quo purchases of “rights and benefits” by corporate sponsors. Internal communications show that the Academy “distinguishes its ‘sponsors’ from its ‘supporters’. Corporate sponsors ‘pay a fee and in return the Academy provides a right or benefit’… Corporate ‘supporters’ provide ‘a charitable contribution with no (explicit) expectation of commercial return’”.
The study found “striking similarities” between the Academy and “other cases of institutions captured by corporations, such as ILSI and the Global Energy Balance Network, orchestrated by the soft drink industry to promote their commercial agenda in scientific institutions.” (See links for background on ILSI Y GEBN).
The study notes that “although AND has changed some of its internal policies to manage corporate interference and financing, it continues to advance corporate interests in various ways and serves as a voice for its corporate sponsors.”
“AND/ANDF’s current policies and public statements are not sufficient to explain why AND continues to accept financial contributions from corporations whose products (such as ultra-processed foods and formula milk) are associated with health problems.”
Today’s studio public health nutrition its titled “The corporate capture of the nutrition profession in the United States: The case of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.”
The study was co-authored by Angela Carriedo, a researcher at the University of Bath and policy secretary for the World Association for Nutrition and Public Health; Ilana Pinsky, consultant to the Pan American Health Organization; Eric Crosbie, associate professor of public health at the University of Nevada, Reno; Gary Ruskin, Executive Director of US Right to Know; and Mélissa Mialon, Research Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin.
The US Right to Know fact sheet on the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is available here.
US Right to Know is a nonprofit investigative research group focused on promoting transparency for public health. For more information on the U.S. Right to Know, see our scholarly articles at https://usrtk.org/academic-work/. For more general information, see usrtk.org.
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