"Sell out, with me oh yea
Sell out, with me tonight
Record company's gonna
give me lots of money and
everything's gonna be all right"
The above chorus is from the ska band Reel Big Fish's 1997 hit song, "Sell Out," from their album, "Turn the Radio Off." In the song, the singer sarcastically relates the plight of a musician who is tired of "flipping burgers" and is willing to get "lots of money" by playing "what they want you to hear" in order to get a recording contract.1
A similar song could be sung today by nutritional researchers in the United States. A recent viewpoint article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association highlights the trend of sponsored nutrition research beginning to dominate the landscape.2
The paper was written by Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and the author of a number of books on related issues.3 In her paper, Dr. Nestle notes, "The longstanding influence of food industry funding on nutrition research, researchers, and professional societies threatens the credibility of nutrition science. So much research is sponsored by industry that health professionals and the public may lose confidence in basic dietary advice."
Dr. Nestle cites several efforts by large corporations to shape the opinions of the American public through nutritional research. One such example was an effort by Coca-Cola to create a nonprofit organization called the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN). As outlined in an article published by The New York Times:
"Coke has made a substantial investment in the new nonprofit. In response to requests based on state open-records laws, two universities that employ leaders of the Global Energy Balance Network disclosed that Coke had donated $1.5 million last year to start the organization.
"Critics say Coke has long cast the obesity epidemic as primarily an exercise problem. ‘The message is that obesity is not about the foods or beverages you're consuming, it's that you're not balancing those foods with exercise,' Dr. Freedhoff of the University of Ottawa said."
According to the article, Kraft Foods, McDonald's, PepsiCo and Hershey's are also involved with reported partnerships with the American Society for Nutrition and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics4 – partnerships that are garnering a certain amount of negative attention.
Public scrutiny, led by articles in The New York Times, ultimately caused the Global Energy Balance Network to shut down. Coke had given both the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the University of South Carolina grants for the $1.5 million to start the organization. Under considerable pressure, the University of Colorado returned its $1 million on Nov. 6.5
On Nov. 30, 2015, GEBN removed all content from its website and replaced it with this notice: "Effective immediately, GEBN is discontinuing operations due to resource limitations." Not exactly accurate, given the resources Coca-Cola could potentially expend.
While GEBN disappeared relatively quickly, this is probably not the last of this sort of marketing. The frightening issue is how easy and attractive it has become for major corporations to utilize research as part of a marketing campaign, drawing conclusions that are clearly not in the best interests of the public. From drugs to food, any commodity sold to consumers in large amounts is ripe for the misapplication of seemingly scientific information that is easy to fund and hard to refute.
References / Notes
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
