Why do they call when they mean marketing science

Not only is sugar, hundreds of industries try to fool us: we have a problem and seeking solutions

The sugar industry  paid scientists for decades and funded hundreds of studies to  blame fat heart disease and exculpate the sugar . This week, it has published  an analysis of archival documents  that could embitter even the very existence Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But it is not, not at all , the only case: the history of scientific study of  nutrition is full of traps, kickbacks and half - truths that have nurtured (or tried to nurture) the recommendations of the authorities of half the world compromising its credibility to limits unsuspected. For the love of God, if  they tried to convince us that the wine made us better drivers are capable of anything.

The "coincidences" of nutritional research

The case of  respected researchers from Harvard  receiving what would be more than $ 50,000 today for work on saturated fats, there is added the revelations that laid bare  the attempt to Coca-Cola to decouple their products obesity  or does just a couple of months, the study said that  cranberry juice was good against urinary tract infections . A study, it must be said, was done with women who had no urinary tract infection. What could go wrong?

THAT IS VERY HARMFUL FOR A PRODUCT HAS ALWAYS (A FUNDED BY INDUSTRY STUDY FINDING) SOMETHING POSITIVE

Marion Nestle , despite what the name might make us think, is one of the scourges of the industry on these issues.This professor at the University of New York  they say  that  can recognize studies that have been funded by industry only see the name .

And no, it is not a superpower, is that it isvery easy: the study of grape juice that linked the beginning of the article is called " Grape juice, cognitive function and driving performance , " says that consumption of this type of juice conductive improve our skills and, coincidentally, is funded by  Welchs , an American company that has been making grape juice since 1869.

There is more. A journal of the British Medical Journal published a study called " Ingestion of nuts in adults with diabetes risk " and, he says, including nuts in the diet of patients with diabetes does wonders. If you go down to almost the end they see who funded the study: the Californian Commission de la Nuez . We continue to bingo because  not think it's an isolated thing .

And dangerous systemic bias

In 2007, David Ludwig and his team at Children 's Hospital Boston  conducted a meta - analysis  to  study whether private funding skewing research . In it was found that of the 52 independent studies analyzed, 20 of them were unfavorable.

In contrast, of the 24 studies funded by industry analyzed, only 3 were not favorable. That is, the success rate was reduced from 38% to 12,5. And Nestle jobs that figure down below ten percent: of the 168 funded studies that have reviewed, only twelve are negative.

STUDIES FUNDED BY THE INDUSTRY ARE BETWEEN FOUR AND EIGHT MORE FAVORABLE TIMES FREELANCE

In this  systematic review of sugary drinks  (smoothies, juices or soft drinks) conducted by researchers at the University of Navarra he found that studies funded by industry are  four to eight times more favorable  to products independents.

It may seem a historical curiosity, but unfortunately not. In the case of sugar, the industry achieved in 1977 the US Department of Agriculture  recommended to minimize saturated fats , pushing the hungry masses of consumers to ultraazucarados products and creating a huge public health problem .

Why does this happen?

There are several cross - cutting issues affecting the relationship between science and business. The first, no doubt, it is funding. Although there are always problems financing  the eyes of scientists, it is true that there are sexier (for funding) than other areas. And do the umpteenth test of a peach juice is not particularly attractive.

THE MAIN PROBLEM IS NOT THE FRAUD, BUT DA INDUSTRY RELEVANCE TO MINORITY VOICES

In addition, nutrition is  very close to area producers . And not only for this type of study, but especially to R & D. In improving traditional producers and the creation of new varieties involved many (independent or not) scientists and that means that there is a steady flow of personnel, resources and information between academia and industry.

But probably the biggest problem is that in science, corruption is often not so gross, it is more subtle. Why the alcohol industry often supports studies on cardiovascular disease and not on cancer? Because  alcohol causes cancer , but in  certain circumstances it may be cardioprotective  ( or even that ).

Science continues to be an open conversation between researchers disagree and most of the time, researchers have done studies discussed today really believe in what they say.Private funding acts  unbalancing the conversation : thanks to its resources, minority voices become more important than they would under normal circumstances and create the 'reasonable doubt' in the consumer's mind.

Why do they call when they mean marketing science

In a world built around trust, such practices threaten to  compromise the health of much of society . When they not  undermine the credibility of institutions , promote  misinformation and pseudoscience among public opinion.

But the truth is that most scientists  do not participate in such practices . And the industry has tried again and again to appropriate the social prestige of science  and, by the way, the committed until the point that the average consumer does not know what to think. What is good? What is bad? How can we be sure if even the experts we trust deceive us?What can we do?

There are no easy answers. And in this world alone. But the best long - term strategy is  to rely on scientific consensus . Because although we see that they can become biased, they are the best way we have to approach slowly, indeed.

images  | Juhan Sonin  (with modifications),  West Midlands Police , NTNU