US premier nutrition advisory group took $4m from junk food makers trends now
America's premier nutrition advisory group has financial ties to some of the nation's biggest junk food makers, according to reports.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a standard-setting body that outlines best practices for the nation’s nutritionists and advises policy-makers on public health issues. For many, it is seen as the premier authority on diets and healthy eating.
Yet documents show it took more than $4 million in donations from companies like PepsiCo, Hershey and Nestlé between 2011 and 2017 - in a potential conflict of interest.
Documents released via FOIA and examined in a report published in Public Health Nutrition exposed the extent of the relationships.
Coca-Cola was one of the junk food companies which partnered with the dietician's Academy, giving over $477,000. Its relationship ended with the advisory body in 2015
The Academy has been criticized for its relationships with processed food companies since 2013, but the documents released have exposed the true extent of the financial dealings.
They suggest the group took more than $486,000 from PepsiCo, the makers behind sugar-filled Pepsi, and more than $477,000 from Coca-Cola.
A 2014 email from influential Academy member Donna Martin said: 'The only flag that I saw was that PepsiCo is one of our top ten stocks (in
