Study uncovers strings attached to Coca-Cola research funds

CNBC 11 May 2019

Coca-Cola struck agreements to fund health studies at several public universities that gave the beverage maker the ability to review and kill studies it didn't like, according to a new report from the University of Cambridge, writes Berkeley Lovelace Jr for CNBC.

Cambridge's department of politics and international studies discovered Coke's demands while examining research funding agreements between private corporations and public institutions. Its report, released on 7 May, said Coke retained the right to "quash studies progressing unfavourably" or "pressure researchers using the threat of termination" in at least five agreements with various academic institutions between 2015 and 2016.

Dr Sarah Steele, a policy researcher from Cambridge and lead author of the study, which was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Public Health Policy said the documents "in their nature" don't tell the whole story. Steele also said there are perfectly valid reasons for a company like Coke to terminate research, such as bullying, harassment or the institution doing the research is not delivering on findings. She said the study didn't find any evidence that Coke killed any research.
Full report on the CNBC site

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