#572: Can You Trust Industry-Funded Nutrition Studies? Here's How to Tell

Nutrition science plays a pivotal role in shaping public health advice, but the influence of industry funding on research has become a pressing concern. In this episode we want to examine whether we can trust nutrition studies funded by food and beverage companies, and how you can discern study credibility. 

The discussion is highly relevant in today's landscape, where conflicts of interest and bias in research are under scrutiny amidst debates on sugar, processed foods, and diet recommendations. By exploring how industry sponsorship might skew results or interpretations, this episode speaks to broader issues of scientific trustworthiness and evidence-based policy in nutrition and public health. 

In this episode, we take a look at some recent publications that showed how study results and reporting differed significantly depending on if industry had funded the study or not. We delve into how this happens. As most often it is not a case of data fabrication or corruption, but rather how bias leads to studies being designed and reported differently.

We walk through some examples, as well as highlighting some industry-funded studies that didn't provide a "pro-industry" result and conclusion.

The hope is that the episode allows you to understand why this is a problem, how to spot it, and how to know if you can trust the results of an industry-funded study.

Timestamps

• [00:36] Alan's upcoming study
• [04:47] Discussion on industry funding in nutrition research
• [15:06] Case study: industry influence on red meat research
• [30:43] Case study: artificial sweeteners and industry influence
• [36:37] Case study: sugar industry's role in research
• [38:06] Critical appraisal of industry-funded studies
• [51:58] Case study: when industry-funded study results can be trusted
• [01:01:51] Guidelines for assessing research quality
• [01:07:14] Key ideas segment (premium-only)

Related Resources

• Join the Sigma email newsletter for free
• Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium
• Join Alan's Alinea Nutrition Research Hub
• Enroll in the next cohort of our Applied Nutrition Literacy course
• Recommended episode: #472: Compared To What? – Understanding Food Substitution Analysis & Adjustment Models
• Studies mentioned:
  • López-Moreno et al., Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Jun;121(6):1246-1257
  • Tobias, 2025 – You are what you don't eat
  • Mandrioli D, Kearns CE, Bero LA (2016) PLOS ONE 15(3): e0230469
  • Schillinger et al., Ann Intern Med. 2016 Nov 1;165(12):895–897
  • Schmidt et al., 2021 – The impact of diets rich in low-fat or\ full-fat dairy on glucose tolerance and its determinants: a randomized controlled trial
  • Sch