Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

The American Academy of Family Physicians, which I am a member, is accepting money from Coca-Cola.  Wow.

The AAFP today announced a corporate partnership with The Coca-Cola Co., in which the beverage giant will provide a grant for the Academy to develop consumer education content related to beverages and sweeteners for the AAFP's award-winning consumer health and wellness Web site, FamilyDoctor.org.

According to the Kansas City Business Journal, Coca-Cola is providing a grant of an unspecified amount to the AAFP for the project.

Now it comes full circle.  The drug industry manipulates and controls the drug information given to doctors and now soda companies fund the nutrition information.  Good work guys!  Even if the AAFP changes their mind due to public outcry it won’t be enough for me.  They need to clearly state publicly that drinking soda has been a significant contributor to the epidemic of overweight, heart disease and cancer in this country and is disease and death promoting.  It is designed to be addicting and serving it to children is child abuse.  What if the AAFP accepted funding from Phillip Morris and promoted smoking in moderation?   I can’t resign my membership, I would lose board certification credentials.  I could send them a letter, but what else should we do?

Read more about it on AAFP’s very own website: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/inside-aafp/20091006cons-alli-coke.html

P.S. Just in case you didn’t know, the American Dietetic Association, the organization that certifies nutritionists and dietitians, also accepts money from Coca-Cola, as well as PepsiCo, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Mars and the National Dairy Council. Take a look at the corporate sponsor’s page on the ADA website and see for yourself!

UPDATE (10/30/09): Based on reader response we would like to ask that you let the AAFP and the ADA know what you think about this. Please feel free to post the letters you wrote to them here in the comments so others can use your writings too.

AAFP - http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/aboutus/theaafp/contact.html

ADA - http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home_4682_ENU_HTML.htm

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Last year, more and more people opened their wallets only to find cobwebs where money used to be, as a result consumer spending on food dropped in 2008, hurting restaurants, brand names and grocery stores. Food spending fell an inflation-adjusted 3.7%, the steepest decline in the 62 years the government has recorded the figure. People’s preferences changed too, for the better and the not-so-better, buying of fresh vegetables jumped 2.3% and beef and sweets decreased 3.4% and 5.1% respectively, but eggs increased 3% and milk 1%; The Wall Street Journal reports.

But the recession-diet news is conflicted. Previous reports claim pasta consumption is up in the United States, because it’s a cheap food that can feed a whole family, despite being incredibly nutrient poor. And others suggest more Americans are turning to processed cereals and ditching veggies to save money.

No doubt, buying food can be very expensive. So try shopping at a farmers market or buying marked down fruits and veggies. Both will help keep money in your wallet.

Via TreeHugger.

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