From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Arun Gupta</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:arun@ibfanasia.org">arun@ibfanasia.org</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><br><br><div style="word-wrap:break-word"><div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px">
<span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium">AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS</span></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><font face="Helvetica"></font></div>
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<div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri"><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial"><b>Are America's Nutrition
Professionals in the Pocket of Big Food ?</b></font></div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri"><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial"><b><br></b></font></div><div><font color="#3e00ff" face="'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size:18px"><b><font>The report shows "...</font>the food industry’s deep infiltration of the nation’s top nutrition organization raises serious questions not only about that profession’s credibility, but also about its policy positions.."</b></span></font></div>
<div><font color="#3e00ff" face="'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size:18px"><b> </b></span></font><span style="color:rgb(34,30,31);font-family:Arial"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">link : </font><a title="http://www.aaci-india.org/Resources/Corporate_Sponsorship_Report.pdf" href="http://www.aaci-india.org/Resources/Corporate_Sponsorship_Report.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.aaci-india.org/Resources/Corporate_Sponsorship_Report.pdf</a></span></div>
<div><br></div><div style="margin-right:0cm;line-height:17.05pt;font-size:12pt;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:Calibri;margin-top:0cm"><span><font face="Arial"><font color="#233f8f"><b>Executive
Summary</b></font></font></span></div><p style="margin-right:0cm;font-size:12pt;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:Calibri;margin-top:5pt"><font face="Arial"><font color="#221e1f"><span><font style="FONT-SIZE:10pt">By any measure, the nation is currently suffering from
an epidemic of diet-related health problems. According to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,</font></span><span><span><font style="FONT-SIZE:5.5pt">1</font></span></span><span><font style="FONT-SIZE:10pt"> chronic diseases – such as heart disease, stroke,
cancer, and diabetes – “are among the most common, costly, and preventable of
all health problems.” </font></span></font></font></p><p style="margin-right:0cm;font-size:12pt;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:Calibri;margin-top:5pt"><span><font face="Arial"><font style="FONT-SIZE:10pt" color="#221e1f">Against this backdrop, we
must ask: what is the role of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND)—the
nation’s largest association of nutrition professionals—in preventing or at
least stemming the tide of diet-related health problems? What responsibility
does this influential group of registered dietitians bear to be a leading
advocate for policy changes to make eating healthfully more accessible? Does
forming partnerships with the food industry compromise such a group’s
credibility? And what does the food industry gain from such
partnerships?</font></font></span></p><p style="margin-right:0cm;font-size:12pt;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:Calibri;margin-top:5pt"><span><font face="Arial"><font style="FONT-SIZE:10pt" color="#221e1f">Why does it matter? As
this report will show, the food industry’s deep infiltration of the nation’s top
nutrition organization raises serious questions not only about that profession’s
credibility, but also about its policy positions. The nation is currently
embroiled in a series of policy debates about how to fix our broken food system.
A 74,000-member health organization has great potential to shape that national
discourse – for better and for worse.</font></font></span></p><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri"><br></div><div style="font-family:Calibri"><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 10px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)">
<font size="3"><b>Findings:</b></font></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• Beginning in 2001, AND listed 10 food industry sponsors; the 2011 annual report lists 38, a more than three-fold increase.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• The most loyal AND sponsor is the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, for 12 years running (2001-2012).</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• Processed food giants ConAgra and General Mills have been AND sponsors for 10 of the last 12 years.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 8.9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• Kellogg and the National Dairy Council have been AND sponsors for 9 of the last 12 years.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><span style="font:9.0px Helvetica"><font size="3">• Companies on AND’s list of approved continuing education providers include Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Nestlé, and PepsiCo.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 8.9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><span style="font:8.9px Helvetica"><font size="3">• Among the messages taught in Coca-Cola- sponsored continuing education courses are: sugar is not harmful to children; aspartame is completely safe, including for children over one year; and the Institute of Medicine is too restrictive in its school nutrition standards.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• At AND’s 2012 annual meeting, 18 organizations – less than five percent of all exhibitors – captured 25 percent of the total exhibitor space. Only two out of the 18 represented whole, non-processed foods.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• Based on square footage, only about 12 percent of the expo floor was taken up by fruit and vegetable vendors, using AND’s own generous classification.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><span style="font:9.0px Helvetica"><font size="3">• The AND Foundation sells “nutrition symposia” sponsorships for $50,000 at the annual meeting. In 2012, Nestlé presented a session on “Optimal Hydration.”</font></span></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9.2px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• The Corn Refiners Association (lobbyists for high fructose corn syrup) sponsored three “expo impact” sessions at the AND 2012 annual meeting.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• Roughly 23 percent of annual meeting speakers had industry ties, although most of these conflicts were not disclosed in the program session description.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• In an independent survey, 80 percent of registered dietitians said sponsorship implies Academy endorsement of that company and its products.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 8.8px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• Almost all RDs surveyed (97 percent) thought the Academy should verify that a sponsor’s corporate mission is consistent with that of the Academy prior to accepting them.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• A majority of RDs surveyed found three current AND sponsors “unacceptable.” (Coca-Cola, Mars, and PepsiCo.)</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• The AND lobbying agenda reveals mostly safe issues benefiting registered dietitians. To date, AND has not supported controversial nutrition policies that might upset corporate sponsors, such as limits on soft drink sizes, soda taxes, or GMO labels.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 8.9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><span style="font:8.9px Helvetica"><font size="3">• AND’s sponsors and their activities appear to violate AND’s own sponsorship guidelines.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• In 2011, AND generated $1.85 million in sponsorship revenue, which represents about 5% the total revenue. This is down from 9% in both 2010 and 2009.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• For the AND Foundation, corporate contributions were the single largest source of revenue in 2011: $1.3 million out of a total of $3.4 million or 38 percent.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9.1px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">• In 2011, the AND Foundation reported more than $17 million in net assets, more than six times its expenses for that year.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(190,0,38)"><font size="3"><br></font></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(190,0,38)">
<font size="3"><b>Recommendations</b></font></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">1) Greater Transparency: AND should make more details available to the public (or at least to members) regarding corporate sponsorship—far beyond what it currently provides in its annual reports.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">2) Request Input from Membership: Trade group policies should reflect the desires of its members. Many RDs object to corporate sponsorship but don’t know how to make their voices heard.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">3) Meaningful Sponsorship Guidelines:</font></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)">
<font size="3">AND should implement much stronger and more meaningful sponsorship guidelines, possibly looking to the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group’s stricter guidelines as a model.</font></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9.1px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><span style="font:9.1px Helvetica"><font size="3">4) Reject Corporate-Sponsored Education: AND should reject outright corporate-sponsored continuing education, as well as corporate-sponsored education sessions at its annual meeting. AND should also consider placing more distance between its credentialing arm and the main organization.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;color:rgb(26,26,24)"><font size="3">5) Increased Leadership on Nutrition Policy: In recent years, AND’s leadership has taken important steps to improve its policy agenda and create a positive presence in Washington. However, while the staff in the D.C. office is lobbying on behalf of AND’s membership, “education sessions” are being taught to RDs by Coke and Hershey’s. This disconnect will continue to undermine AND’s credibility on critical policy issues until the conflicts are resolved.</font></div>
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