Paying the Piper

The tobacco industry fought for 40 years to stop the fact that smoking kills, becoming part of public health policy.

What penalty did the tobacco industry face? A few small fines. They are still in business. Nobody went to prison.

Today the sugar industry is in that same situation. Since the 1960's they have battled to stop health authorities from naming their products unhealthy.

In 1965 they began to use the services of Dr Frederick Stare, of Harvard University to defend their product. Later in his life Dr Stare was on the Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, doing the same thing. Stopping the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, recommending minimal or no use of sugar.

They funded research world-wide, and they sponsored Heart Associations and Diabetes Associations around the world. This influenced the dietary guidelines to diabetics, sugar is not banned, even encouraged.

When Prof. John Yudkin published "pure, White and Deadly: The Problem With Sugar" in 1972, the sugar industry was well prepared to attack him. They succeeded. Yudkin's university disowned him, (probably to protect their continued funding from the industry).

Public Private Partnerships

Combining Talent - Saving Public Money?

These were big in America long before the idea came to New Zealand. The ability to influence the McGovern Senate Committee was important to many groups.

The general idea is that private funding of public institutions reduces the demand on the taxpayer, and allows public institutions and private interests to cooperate in their joint interest. On the surface that sounds fine. However, the process has often been used to misdirect public policy, in favour of private profits, and the cost to the nation and the public purse has been enormous.

In 1965, Harvard University professor Fred Stare joined the Sugar Research Foundation's scientific advisory board. The Sugar industry began to fund two full professors at Harvard. They were anticipating favourable reports on dental decay and on the healthy benefits of sugar.

In 1975 Dr. Frederick Stare edited a paper called "Sugar in the Diet of Man" an 88 page summary of historical evidence in favour of the continued use of sugar as part of the normal diet.

The cattlemen, the dairy industry, and the egg producers lobbied for a place at the McGovern table.

The American Medical Association opposed the idea of one set of dietary rules for everyone, as did the nutritionists. They argued that each person needed a personal diet recommended by an expert in nutrition.

Not only them, everyone was at it. That's how the system works.

Both the food producers and the pharmaceutical industry have used public private partnerships to manipulate nutritional science and to put into the public record many ideas that have no nutritional or health value, but allow the companies to sell more products.

Coca Cola for instance tries to control all messaging on obesity in markets around the world. Their message is that "all calories count" and that "exercise in critical to weight maintenance." Coke is active in sponsoring sports events, and funds scientists who are required to shift the emphasis on the causes of obesity away from any focus on diet. "Obesity is a complex disease" is a classic Coca Cola phrase.