Doctors' Group Under Fire for Coke Partnership

Oct. 24, 2009— -- The American Academy of Family Physicians has come under fire from nutrition advocates for a new partnership with the Coca-Cola company.

Two weeks ago, the organization announced that it would accept a grant from Coke to "develop consumer education content on beverages and sweeteners for FamilyDoctor.org," a consumer health Web site.

Dr. Lori Heim, president-elect of the AAFP, said in a statement that the organization was looking forward to working with the soda maker "and other companies in the future on the development of educational materials to teach consumers how to make the right choices and incorporate the products they love into a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle."

But at a time when sugary beverages are coming under fire as contributors to the country's obesity epidemic, the partnership is being met with disdain from several directions.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Science in the Public Interest said the AAFP should urge patients to avoid sweetened soft drinks, which "promote obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, and other health problems."

Marion Nestle, a food policy researcher at New York University, called the partnership an "embarrassing conflict of interest."

"I hope AAFP members decide that no matter what Coke paid for this partnership, their loss of credibility is not worth the price," she wrote on her blog, Foodpolitics.com.

And Kelly Brownell, professor of psychology, epidemiology, and public health at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., called the AAFP's acceptance of the grant money from Coke "disheartening."

"There is no question that products made by the soft drink companies contribute to diseases that family physicians then have to treat, often without much success," Brownell said. "Taking the money to develop guidelines for healthy eating is beyond imagination."