NEW YORK (AP) – It was a startling scientific finding: Children who eat candy tend to weigh less than those who don’t.
Less startling was how it came about. The paper was funded by a trade association representing the makers of Butterfingers, Hershey and Skittles. And its findings were touted by the group even though one of its authors didn’t seem to think much of it.
“We’re hoping they can do something with it – it’s thin and clearly padded,” a nutrition professor wrote to one of her co-authors in 2011, with an abstract for the paper attached.
The comment was in emails obtained by The Associated Press through records requests with public universities as part of an investigation into how food companies influence attitudes about healthy eating.
One of the industry’s most powerful tactics is the funding of nutrition research. It carries the weight of academic authority, becomes a part of scientific literature and generates headlines.