Milbank Quarterly: Public Meets Private: Conversations Between Coca-Cola and the CDC, by Nason Maani Hessari, Gary Ruskin, Martin McKee and David Stuckler (1.29.19)
Conclusion: “The emails we obtained using FOIA requests reveal efforts by Coca-Cola to lobby the CDC to advance corporate objectives rather than health, including to influence the World Health Organization. Our findings provide a rare example of the ways in which corporate interests attempt to influence public health practitioners ‘in their own words, ‘ and they demonstrate a need for clearer policies on avoiding partnerships with manufacturers of harmful products.”
USRTK News Release: Study Shows Coca-Cola’s Efforts to Influence CDC on Diet and Obesity (1.29.19)
The U.S. Right to Know Food Industry Collection, containing Coca-Cola emails with the CDC, is posted in the free, searchable UCSF Food Industry Documents Archive.
Congresswomen call for investigation
News Release: Pingree, DeLauro to HHS Inspector General: Investigate Coca-Cola’s Lobbying of CDC (2.4.19)
Letter to HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson (2.4.19)
Salon: Two congresswomen want an investigation into CDC’s crooked relationship with Coca-Cola, by Nicole Karlis (2.5.19)
News coverage of Milbank Quarterly study
Washington Post: Coca-Cola Emails Reveal How Soda Industry Tries to Influence Health Officials, by Paige Winfield Cunningham (1.29.19)
Associated Press: Food industry sway over public health gets new scrutiny, by Candace Choi (1.29.19)
Politico: Coca-Cola Tried to Influence CDC on Research and Policy, New Report States, by Jesse Chase-Lubitz (1.29.19)
CNN: Old emails hold new clues to Coca-Cola and CDC’s controversial relationship, by Jacqueline Howard (1.29.19)
BMJ: Coca-Cola and obesity: study shows efforts to influence US Centers for Disease Control, by Gareth Iacobucci (1.30.19)
Salon: New emails reveal CDC employees were doing the bidding of Coca-Cola, by Nicole Karlis (2.1.19)
Mother Jones: Study: Emails Show How Coca-Cola Tried to Influence Global Health Policy, by Kari Sonde (2.1.19)
Atlanta Constitution Journal: Coke and CDC, Atlanta icons, share cozy relationship, emails show, by Alan Judd (2.6.19)
Related journal and news articles
BMJ: Conflicts of interest compromise US public health agency’s mission, say scientists, by Jeanne Lenzer (10.24.16)
Science: U.S. lawmakers want NIH and CDC foundations to say more about donors, by Jeffrey Mervis (6.29.18)
BMJ: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Protecting the Private Good? By Jeanne Lenzer (5.15.15)
Type Investigations: Firm Pays Government to Challenge Pesticide Research, by Sheila Kaplan (3.1.11)
BMJ: US public health agency sued over failure to release emails from Coca-Cola, by Martha Rosenberg (2.28.18)
San Diego Union Tribune: UCSD hires Coke-funded health researcher, by Morgan Cook (9.29.16)
More reporting on Coca-Cola’s influence
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: Science organisations and Coca-Cola’s ‘war’ with the public health community: insights from an internal industry document, by Pepita Barlow, Paulo Serôdio, Gary Ruskin, Martin McKee and David Stuckler (3.14.18)
Critical Public Health: How food companies influence evidence and opinion — straight from the horse’s mouth, by Gary Sacks, Boyd A. Swinburn, Adrian J. Cameron and Gary Ruskin (9.13.17)
Environmental Health News: Coca-Cola’s “war” with the public health community, by Gary Ruskin (4.3.18)
BMJ: Coca-Cola’s secret influence on medical and science journalists, by Paul Thacker (4.5.17)
Politico: Trump’s top health official traded tobacco stock while leading anti-smoking efforts, by Sarah Karlin-Smith and Brianna Ehley (1.30.18)
New York Times: New C.D.C. Chief Saw Coca-Cola as Ally in Obesity Fight, by Sheila Kaplan (7.22.17)
Associated Press: Emails reveal Coke’s role in anti-obesity group, by Candice Choi (11.24.15) and Excerpts from emails between Coke and Global Energy Balance Network
New York Times: Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets, by Anahad O’Connor (8.9.15)
News articles by U.S. Right to Know staff
The Hill: What is going on at the CDC? Health agency ethics need scrutiny, by Carey Gillam (8.27.16)
Huffington Post: More Coca-Cola Ties Seen Inside U.S. Centers For Disease Control, by Carey Gillam (8.1.16)
Huffington Post: CDC Official Exits Agency After Coca-Cola Connections Come to Light, by Carey Gillam (6.30.16)
Huffington Post: Beverage Industry Finds Friend Inside U.S. Health Agency, by Carey Gillam (6.28.16)
Forbes: The Coca-Cola Network: Soda Giant Mines Connections With Officials And Scientists To Wield Influence, by Rob Waters (7.11.17)
Forbes: Trump’s Pick To Head CDC Partnered With Coke, Boosting Agency’s Longstanding Ties To Soda Giant, by Rob Waters (7.10.17)
U.S. Right to Know is a plaintiff in a FOIA lawsuit regarding CDC
CrossFit and U.S. Right to Know are suing the Department of Health and Human Services seeking records about why the Foundation for the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Foundation) and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH Foundation) have not disclosed donor information as required by law. (10.4.18)
Coca-Cola/ILSI influence on CDC in China
New York Times: How Chummy Are Junk Food Giants and China’s Health Officials? They Share Offices, by Andrew Jacobs (1.9.19)
Journal of Public Health Policy: Soda industry influence on obesity science and policy in China, by Susan Greenhalgh (1.9.19)
BMJ: Making China safe for Coke: how Coca-Cola shaped obesity science and policy in China, by Susan Greenhalgh (1.9.19)
BMJ: The hidden power of corporations, by Martin McKee, Sarah Steele and David Stuckler (1.9.19)
CDC FOIA document batches
(3) CDC Culbertson Ryan Liburd Galuska
