Coca-Cola says it will begin disclosing its funding of scientific research and advocacy about the impact sugary soft drinks have on public health.
Muhtar Kent, the chief executive officer of the Coca-Cola Co., made the announcement in an opinion column titled "Coca-Cola: We'll Do Better," published in the Wall Street Journal. He added that Coca-Cola would also create a panel of independent advisers for its financial support for academic research.
"As we continue to learn, it is my hope that our critics will receive us with an open mind," Kent said in the column. "At times we will agree and at times we will passionately disagree."
The announcement followed a large article in The New York Times this month that revealed financial ties between Coke and an organization called the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN). GEBN is a nonprofit advocacy group that puts forward the idea that people pay too much attention to what they eat, but do not care enough about how much they exercise.
The Times article was followed a few days later by a letter that lambasted the financial link between Coca-Cola and GEBN, signed by 36 public health, medicine, and nutrition professionals. "The scientific nonsense being peddled by the Coca-Cola-funded Global Energy Balance Network is outrageous," the letter writers stated, adding that there is well-documented evidence that sugary drinks contribute to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Coca-Cola provided seed money for GEBN. The organization's vice president, Steven Blair, a professor at the University of South Carolina, said in a video on the group's site that the media kept linking too much fast-food and sugary drinks to obesity, adding "There's really virtually no compelling evidence that that, in fact, is the cause."
Dr. Blair has asked GEBN to remove his video from the website. "I regret that a statement I made in this video has been used by some to brand GEBN as a network focusing only on physical activity," the statement said. "From the beginning the mission of GEBN has been to study the science of energy balance, which involves both diet and physical activity."
Coca-Cola, along with other beverage makers, has spent money to fight taxes on sugary drinks and any limits on the sizes of sodas, similar to one proposed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Coca-Cola had also funded studies that were critical of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a government program that uses information about what people are eating.