Congratulate the food industry on calorie reduction? Not so fast.
The nation's leading food companies have cut the number of calories in the food supply by 1.5 trillion, according to a recent release by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. There's just one problem: The data supporting the claim hasn't been published.
The nutrition information is shown on the back of a Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup can in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Some of the nation's largest food companies have cut their calories by the trillions according to a new study, but Simon points out that celebrating the effort is a tad premature.
David Ake/AP/File
When I was asked by聽聽to comment on a聽聽from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation celebrating the food industry鈥檚 alleged reduction in calories, I thought, Oh, that data we鈥檝e been waiting for is finally is published. But I was wrong. As I聽聽last June, a collection of food companies calling themselves the 鈥淗ealthy Weight Commitment Foundation鈥� jumped the gun with a self-congratulatory release claiming to have made good on its 2010 鈥減ledge鈥� with the first lady鈥檚 Let鈥檚 Move campaign to reduce the number of calories in the food supply by 1.5 trillion.
聽Six months later, the data is still unpublished. Instead, the only information the media had to go on was the release with a promise of future publication. As Marion Nestle told POLITICO, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 understand why RWJ would send out a press release without having data to back it up.鈥� The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is a primary backer of the Partnership for a Healthier America (the non-profit arm of Let鈥檚 Move) is also funding the scientific review of industry鈥檚 pledge. That analysis is being conducted by researcher Barry Popkin at the University of North Carolina. I have no doubt his research will be sound, but it鈥檚 irresponsible for the funder to release data before the peer review process is complete. Academic research articles provide important details such as caveats and limitations, not to mention explanations that may have nothing to do with industry鈥檚 actions (such as the recession resulting in lower sales). On the other hand, the press release was all glowing, and the media dutifully聽reported聽the happy news.
Meanwhile, in a聽聽(loftily entitled, 鈥淭hrough Commitment with the Partnership for a Healthier America, Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation Members Exceed Their Calorie Reduction Goal By 400%), Let鈥檚 Move鈥檚 Executive Director Sam Kass said he was 鈥渢hrilled鈥� with the results. Of course he is. Because when Michelle Obama stands side by side with the likes of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, the White House needs positive results to back up its let鈥檚-work-with-industry game plan.
Wherever the pressures were coming from, a foundation as influential as Robert Wood Johnson, one that聽prides itself聽on 鈥渞esearch and evaluation鈥� and who claims that 鈥渙ur work is published in peer-reviewed journals鈥� should live up to its own promises. While it鈥檚 predictable that the food industry would release self-serving data without credible backing, we should expect more from a leading foundation. When the results are finally published, then let鈥檚 take a closer look.