Why are Nutritionists Sponsored by Junk Food Companies?

Why are Nutritionists Sponsored by Junk Food Companies?

"Why are Dietitians and Nutritionists Sponsored by Junk Food Companies?

As Michele discovered, food companies like Coca-Cola, General Mills, Nestlé, Kraft, and all of the major junk food purveyors buy sponsorships to be at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ annual trade organization meetings. They typically end up having the largest booths on the expo floor. Besides showcasing their food products, they’re also allowed to sponsor or hold educational sessions at the meeting.

According to Michele, Nestlé paid $50,000 for the benefit of doing a special session in which they talked about optimum hydration, for example.

“It’s probably no coincidence that Nestlé is also the largest bottled water company in the world,” she says. “So, it’s basically a pay-to-play operation, where these companies pay big money. In exchange, they also get to teach registered dietitians (RDs) for continuing education units.

So, the RDs who are there to make sure they get their continuing education units can do that by learning about optimum hydration from the nation’s biggest bottled water company. And that’s just one example.”

Coca-Cola also sponsors ongoing educational webinars year-round. So, to get CEU’s, registered dietitians can be “educated” by Coca-cola on the virtues of aspartame, for example, and that sugar in children’s diet is okay “in moderation.” According to Michele, these ongoing integral relationships between major food companies and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (which is the nation's largest trade group organization of food and nutrition professionals) represent HUGE conflicts of interest."