After Hours: Dietitians’ Group Accepting Money From Unhealthy Food Industry (From the Archives)

Summary

Full Measure After Hours: Dietitians’ Group Accepting Money From Unhealthy Food Industry (From the Archives) Release Date: March 13, 2025

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Introduction to Alleged Conflicts of Interest

In this archived edition of Full Measure After Hours, host Cheryl Akison delves into the troubling allegations surrounding the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Akison raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest within the organization, questioning whether the advice and guidelines promoted by the world's largest group of registered dietitian nutritionists are being influenced by funding from the unhealthy food industry.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Official Response

Before exploring the watchdog report, Akison presents the Academy's defense against the allegations:

• Corporate Sponsorship Guidelines: The Academy asserts that it adheres to strict guidelines when accepting corporate sponsorships. “When it has corporate sponsors, they follow strict guidelines that the sponsor's vision and mission must align with the Academy's vision, mission and strategic goals,” Akison reports (00:52).

• Editorial Independence: The group emphasizes that it maintains full editorial control over any content bearing its name or logo. “The Academy does not endorse any company brand or company products that it maintains final editorial control and approval of all contents and materials bearing the Academy's name or logo,” states Akison (02:15).

• Separation from Brand Promotion: They claim a clear delineation between the Academy’s messaging and any promotional material from sponsors.

US Right to Know Investigation Overview

Cheryl Akison introduces Gary Ruskin, Executive Director of US Right to Know, a watchdog organization focused on public health and environmental issues. Ruskin provides an overview of their extensive investigation:

• Scope of Investigation: US Right to Know examined approximately 80,000 pages of internal documents from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

• Funding Sources: Ruskin clarifies, “05:11 “Well, it comes from a bunch of foundations, mostly some individuals. We accept no corporate funds.”

Key Findings of the Investigation

Corporate Contributions and Investments

Ruskin reveals that the Academy accepted around $15 million from various industry players over five years, including:

• Major Contributors: National Dairy Council, ConAgra (processed foods), Abbott Nutrition, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Hershey, General Mills, Kellogg, and pesticide manufacturer Bayer Crop Science.

• Investments in Unhealthy Food Companies: The Academy held stocks in companies like PepsiCo and Nestlé, with Ruskin highlighting, “07:46 … they had stock in ultra processed food companies, including PepsiCo and Nestlé.”

• Significant Industry Influence: These contributions raise concerns about the impartiality of the Academy's nutritional guidelines, especially amidst public health crises like obesity and diabetes epidemics.

Conflicts of Interest Among Officials

The investigation identified several Academy officials with ties to the food industry:

• Hope Warshaw: A leader within the Academy who formerly wrote for the Washington Post and consulted for the Calorie Control Council, an artificial sweetener PR group. “08:15 … she consulted for the Calorie Control Council, which is an artificial sweetener PR group.”

• Other Ties: Affiliations with public relations firms and agribusiness companies further exemplify potential conflicts.

Impact on Nutrition Guidelines

Ruskin argues that the Academy's funding sources may influence their stance on certain foods:

• Omission of Dietary Restrictions: While the Academy advises against “added sugars” and “junk food,” it stops short of more stringent recommendations, aligning with the interests of their corporate sponsors. “07:38 … what they don't say is don't eat added sugars and don't eat junk food and don't eat candy.”

Impact and Implications of Conflicts of Interest

Ruskin emphasizes the harmful effects of these conflicts:

• Public Health Consequences: The influence of ultra-processed food companies is linked to rising rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

• Industry Power: These corporations wield significant influence through advertising, public relations, lobbying, and campaign contributions, often shaping public policy and health guidelines to their advantage. “11:24 They're incredibly powerful. They have so many ways of affecting policy and affecting people…”

Recommendations and Public Takeaways

Ruskin suggests actionable steps to address the issue:

• Demand Transparency: The Academy must cease accepting funds from ultra-processed food industries to maintain integrity. “11:46 … the Academy of Nutrition Dietetics has got to go clean and stop taking the corrupt money from the ultra processed food industry.”

• Seek Alternative Sources: The public is encouraged to seek nutrition information from sources free from industry conflicts of interest. “12:12 … people need to find better sources of information, sources that do not have conflicts of interest.”

Conclusion and Further Resources

In wrapping up the discussion, Akison directs listeners to additional resources:

• Access to Documents: The US Right to Know has made the Academy’s internal documents publicly available at usrighttoknow.org, allowing individuals to review the findings firsthand.

• Academy’s Response: For the Academy’s rebuttals and further statements, listeners can visit eatrightpro.org and search for relevant articles.

Akison encourages the audience to conduct their own research and make informed decisions regarding nutritional guidance and dietary advice.

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Notable Quotes:

• Gary Ruskin on Conflict of Interest: “07:06 … there's a sin of omission sort of thing. For example, when you look at what the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says about ultra processed food, what they say, what they don't say is don't eat added sugars and don't eat junk food and don't eat candy.”

• Ruskin on Financial Influence: “07:46 … the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics held stock in ultra processed food companies, including PepsiCo and Nestlé. So this is just off the charts when it comes to a conflict of interest.”

• Ruskin on Industry Power: “11:24 … they're incredibly powerful. They have so many ways of affecting policy and affecting people, whether it's advertising or public relations or lobbying or campaign contributions.”

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For More Information:

• US Right to Know: usrighttoknow.org
• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: eatrightpro.org

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This summary provides an in-depth overview of the podcast episode, capturing the essential discussions, findings, and recommendations regarding the alleged conflicts of interest within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Transcript

[Cheryl Akison]

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I hope you enjoy this special from the Archives edition of Full Measure After Hours. Hi everybody, Cheryl Akkeson here. Welcome to another edition of Full Measure After Hours. Today, alleged conflicts of interest within a top group that gives advice on what we should and shouldn't eat. Quite often I found nonprofits that have a name that sounds like they do one thing well, they actually do something else. For example, Every Child by two wasn't really a child safety organization looking out for dangers that could threaten children or vaccine risks. It was really funded by the vaccine industry and designed to squelch vaccine safety questions and controversialize any researcher or journalist asking them. Now, by the way, Every Child by two has been renamed vaccinate your family because why just stick to promoting childhood vaccines when there are so many people to convince to get Covid vaccines over and over and over again? Well, another alleged case of conflict of interest surrounds the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which bills itself as the world's largest group of registered dietitian nutritionists. But what if the things they're teaching and the advice they give are tainted by corporations that make unhealthy food? A watchdog group called Us Right to Know did an extensive five year long investigation and unearthed tens of thousands of documents. And they claim it all proves that this dietitian's group just serves as a front for the unhealthy food industry that was giving them money. Before we hear details about that in our podcast today, here's some of what the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says about the findings. First of all, the group says that when it has corporate sponsors, they follow strict guidelines that the sponsor's vision and mission must align with the Academy's vision, mission and strategic goals, and that the sponsor's product portfolio must be broadly aligned with the Academy's vision, which is a world where all people thrive through the transformative power of food and nutrition. The dietitians group says the Academy does not endorse any company brand or company products that it maintains final editorial control and approval of all contents and materials bearing the Academy's name or logo. The dietitians group says there is clear separation of its messaging and content from any brand information or promotion. The watchdog group report says, among other things, that top contributors to this dietitian's group have included the National Dairy Council, ConAgra, maker of a lot of popular processed foods, Abbott Nutrition and Laboratories. Those companies make baby formula and products for people who have disorders related to potentially unhealthy food like diabetes and heart disease. Also contributing to the dietitians group, Pepsi, Coke, Hershey, General Mills, Kellogg, the National Confectioners association, which represents the candy industry, and pesticide manufacturer Bear Crop Science. The watchdog group also says the dietitians group has even invested in the unhealthy food industry, such as in Pepsi and Nestle. But the group itself says, while acknowledging they do have some investments like that, they say less than 3% of their investments are in food companies. So now let's hear more about the investigation and report from Gary Ruskin, executive director of US Right to Know.

And can you give me just one short paragraph on US Right to Know, what it is and what it does?

[Gary Ruskin]

We're a public interest, public health investigative watchdog group. We investigate companies and governments regarding failures that hurt our health or our environment or our food system.

[Cheryl Akison]

Where does your funding primarily come from?

[Gary Ruskin]

Well, it comes from a bunch of foundations, mostly some individuals. We accept no corporate funds.

[Cheryl Akison]

We're here to talk about a report, a lot of research, it looks like you did, to expose some of the inside or inner workings behind a nutrition group. Can you give me the overview, sort of the top line findings from all of this? Then we'll ask some specific questions.

[Gary Ruskin]

Sure. We were able to obtain about 80,000 pages of internal documents of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which is our nation's most influential nutrition group. They license about 110,000 nutrition professionals in the United States. What we found was that the Academy accepted about $15 million from companies and organizations, from ultra processed food companies, from pharmaceutical companies, from agribusiness companies. We also found that they had policies to corruptly provide quid pro quo benefits in return for some of those contributions.

[Cheryl Akison]

What is the basic problem, you see, with the idea that a nutrition group is accepting millions of dollars from industry groups.

[Gary Ruskin]

So it's a conflict of interest in that. Take a more recent example. The Academy of Nutrition Dietetics last year took money from the National Confectioners association and from Titan Lyle, which is a big sugar company. And so at a time when our nation is struggling terribly with an epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, it should never, ever accept money from companies who produce products that are causing harm.

[Cheryl Akison]

When they accept money from an industry like that, is the theory or allegation that they're then taking action to protect the industry or just simply taking no action to go after that industry as a nutrition threat?

[Gary Ruskin]

Well, I think there's some of both. There's some of both of that. A lot of it is kind of sin of omission sort of thing. For example, when you look at what the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says about ultra processed food, what they say, what they don't say is don't eat added sugars and don't eat junk food and don't eat candy. And so that's exactly what the ultra processed food companies want them to say, to stay away from the don'ts.

[Cheryl Akison]

You also found evidence, if I remember correctly, you found evidence of them giving money to industry.

[Gary Ruskin]

So not giving money to industry, but actually we found evidence that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics held stock in ultra processed food companies, including PepsiCo and Nestle. So this is just off the charts when it comes to a conflict of interest. It belongs in the conflict of interest hall of fame.

[Cheryl Akison]

There are also some officials you found serving or working with the nutrition group that had ties to industry that seemed to be a conflict of interest.

[Gary Ruskin]

Yeah, we found a number of examples. One example of a leader of the academy who had a conflict of interest is Hope Warshaw, who used to write a column in the Washington Post and she consulted for the Calorie Control Council, which is an artificial sweetener PR group. And she has worked for a number of public relations firms.

[Cheryl Akison]

What are some more specifics? The processed sugar industry or. The sugar industry is one. Can you give a couple of other examples of industries that want to hold sway or would want to hold sway over nutrition guidelines and recommendations?

[Gary Ruskin]

Sure. I mean, the big ones are the ultra processed food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, because the pharmaceutical industry has some kind of food like products that are served in hospitals mostly. And then there's the agribusiness industry. For example, we know last year that Bayer Crop Science gave money to the academy. And Bayer is the manufacturer of herbicide called roundup which whose main ingredient, active ingredient is glyphosate, which the World Health Organization's cancer army said is a probable carcinogen.

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[Cheryl Akison]

How did this group get its prominence as a nutrition group that certifies people and holds this kind of sway?

[Gary Ruskin]

Well, it's a very old organization because they are so useful to these industries. They are promoting, promoted by the industries in some ways. And so it's kind of, it's, it's kind of like a symbiotic relationship. It's good for everyone.

[Cheryl Akison]

When the group started, do you think it started without accepting money from industry or is this something, and this is something that became more recent as the industry understood the usefulness, or was it created with the idea in mind that maybe it would be this kind of a group?

[Gary Ruskin]

So it's a great question and I don't know the answer to it. I don't know the history from, from, you know, more than a half a century ago. But there's no question that over the last, say, 25 years there has been a kind of a slide into the corrupt swamps of taking money from the ultra processed food industry. Also, I think there's been a rise in this sort of thing as the ultra processed food industry has become emboldened and has tried to use its influence more and more and more. And we can see the effects of it in our, you know, in our waistlines and the rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease across the country.

[Cheryl Akison]

How would you describe how large and powerful these industries are?

[Gary Ruskin]

They're, they're incredibly powerful. They have so many ways of affecting policy and affecting people, whether it's advertising or public relations or lobbying or campaign contributions. They're masters at pulling the strings and our health shows it.

[Cheryl Akison]

What do you think could or should be done about an alleged conflict of interest like this?

[Gary Ruskin]

Well, I mean, what's got to be done is that first of all, the Academy of Nutrition Dietetics has got to, got to go clean and stop taking the corrupt money from the ultra processed food industry. But people have got to demand it and say, look, we're not, we're just going to not going to listen to dieticians anymore more until they're honest.

[Cheryl Akison]

As far as a takeaway, what is it you think the public should know in the big picture?

[Gary Ruskin]

The big picture is that our nation's dietitian organization, they're not trustworthy for information and that people need to find better sources of information, sources that do not have conflicts of interest.

[Cheryl Akison]

Can you recommend any?

[Gary Ruskin]

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think there are lots, lots of them. But just, you know, just make sure that they're not corrupted by the food industry.

[Cheryl Akison]

If you're interested in learning more on this topic, the U.S. right to Know watchdog group has posted all those documents from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. You can go to usrtk.org that stands for usright to know.org and search or just search online before you get to that website Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics documents and you can look through those yourself. You can also read more about the response and the criticism of the report from the dietitians group by [e-mail] eatrightpro.org and you can search public statements or inaccuracies in US Right to Know article. You can probably just search that phrase us right to know article and the dietitians group or eatrightpro.org and it'll also come up under there. I hope you enjoyed today's podcast and that if you did, you will leave a great review and share it with your friends. Think about pre ordering my new book, by the way. Follow the Science How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures and Prevails. It's coming out September 3rd, 2024. You can get a signed copy pre ordered at Sherylakkinson.com Click the store tab or just order the book at HarperCollins, Amazon or anywhere you'd like to order. And while you're at it visiting the Cheryl Atkinson Store, check out our unique products designed for independent thinkers like you. With proceeds funding independent reporting causes such as the ION Awards and the Brechner center for Freedom of Information. I hope you will watch my full report on the topic we discussed today. It will be on Sunday, March 10. Full measure to find a station near you, go to cherylaxon.com and click the Full Measure tab for a list of stations and times. Or just watch at FullMeasure News online. The feed starts around 9:31am Eastern Time on Sundays, but then it's posted there after. You can watch replays anytime. That's Fullmeasure News. Do your own research. Make up your own mind. Think for yourself.