NPR riprende un articolo del JAMA Internal Medicine che parla degli sforzi della Sugar Association di influenzare le scelte alimentari dei consumatori americani negli anni ’60, sponsorizzando revisioni che minimizzavano i rischi degli zuccheri sulla salute cardiovascolare esagerando il ruolo svolto dai grassi.

“It was a very smart thing the sugar industry did, because review papers, especially if you get them published in a very prominent journal, tend to shape the overall scientific discussion,” co-author Stanton Glantz told The New York Times.

Secondo l’articolo di NPR la pratica sarebbe ancora oggi diffusa.

“Is it really true that food companies deliberately set out to manipulate research in their favor? Yes, it is, and the practice continues. In 2015, the New York Times obtained emails revealing Coca-Cola’s cozy relationships with sponsored researchers who were conducting studies aimed at minimizing the effects of sugary drinks on obesity. Even more recently, the Associated Press obtained emails showing how a candy trade association funded and influenced studies to show that children who eat sweets have healthier body weights than those who do not.”

Infine, una review del 2020 pubblicata sull’autorevole Journal of the American College of Cardiology rileva che la raccomandazione di limitare i grassi saturi sembrerebbe persistere ad oggi nonostante le evidenze contrarie.

The recommendation to limit dietary saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake has persisted despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Most recent meta-analyses of randomized trials and observational studies found no beneficial effects of reducing SFA intake on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and total mortality, and instead found protective effects against stroke.

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