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Nutrition Panel Members Linked to Major Food Companies: Report

The panel helps to develop American nutritional guidelines, raising conflict of interest concerns.

Nine out of 20 members of a federal government panel involved in developing nutritional guidelines have significant links to big food companies and other entities that have a substantial stake in the process’ outcome, according to a report. The members of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee were found to have ties to the likes of Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and the National Egg Board, along with other food lobbying groups, according to U.S. Right to Know, a government transparency organization. The report concluded that “with high-risk conflicts of interest still present on the DGAC, the public cannot have confidence that the official dietary advice from the U.S. government is free from industry influence.”