Is Big Food acting like Big Tobacco? Mars thinks so

More and more consumers are expressing distrust in the food industry — comparing its actions and ethics with the tobacco industry.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest claims that “the public health community is concerned with both diet and tobacco use for a very good reason: over the course of a lifetime, poor diets and smoking both cause serious health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. And the similarities between unhealthy food and tobacco go beyond the health effects. When it comes to corporate responsibility, executives at some of the nation’s largest food and beverage companies seem to have learned a lot from their counterparts at Big Tobacco in aggressively promoting consumption and, in the same breath, blaming the consumer.”

Sugary drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the Australian diet and prime culprits when it comes to diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other health problems. Yet the food industry goes to great lengths to muddy the waters and obscure the connections between soda and disease.

In 2016, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSA) released a scientific review which stated that evidence in favour of guidelines recommending limits on added dietary sugar was not only “low quality”, but didn’t “meet criteria for trustworthy recommendations”. It is statements like these that fuel public distrust in the food industry.

ILSI is a non-profit organisation that, according to its website, “advances and disseminates science for public benefit”. It is funded by 400-plus corporate members including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever, DuPont, Chr Hansen, Cargill and ADM.

According to its website, ILSI convenes “scientists from public, private and academic sectors to address scientific issues that are relevant to human health and environmental sustainability. The results of those discussions are disseminated through publication, capacity building education and stakeholder engagement.

“ILSI’s mission is to improve public health and well-being by engaging academic, government, and industry scientists in a neutral forum to advance scientific understanding in the areas related to nutrition, food safety, risk assessment, and the environment.”

It further identifies Four Global Issues: biotechnology, functional foods, obesity and risk assessment. ILSI conducts original research, publishes research and organises scientific conferences to achieve its mission.

However, there is controversy about whether ILSI is a science research organisation or a corporate lobbyist for the food industry. It seems that the latter may be more accurate as Mars has announced it will quit the industry-funded science group by the end of 2018 and will instead support research, regardless of results. Preparatory to this the company has published its science policy.

By stating publicly that the company will:

• publish research findings, regardless of how the outcome impacts them
• fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest
• maintain funding without linking it to specific research outcome
• disclose sponsorship and support studies that can be freely published regardless of results

Mars is attempting to increase transparency and hence improve consumer trust in the food industry.

The pharmaceutical industry has had disclosure and conflicts of interest guidelines for many years and the wheels have not fallen off Big Pharma — so perhaps the food and beverage industry could follow Mars’ lead and be honest with consumers too.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Lisa F. Young