US Food Pyramid Invalid as It was Made by Experts with Conflicts of Interest 11

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US " Food Pyramid " Invalid as It was Made by Experts with Conflicts of Interest

11/19/00

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Issue 180

November 19, 2000

An Aspirin a Day May Not Keep the Doctor Away

Aspirin, Like All Other Drugs, is a Poison

Prayer and Health

US Surgeon General Plan to Promote Breastfeeding

Physician's Group Opposes Vaccine Mandates

Food Pyramid Invalid

Dangers of Iron Supplements

Flipping Burgers Cuts Cancer Risk

Unnecessary Mastectomies

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US " Food Pyramid " Invalid as It was Made by Experts with Conflicts of

Interest

A U.S. District Court judge ruled last week that the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

violated federal laws when they selected individuals with known financial ties

to various food industries to serve as members to the Dietary Guidelines

Advisory Committee. This group was in charge of drawing up the latest

nutritional guidelines that comprise the USDA's " Food Pyramid " .

In addition to its educational purpose, the pyramid also serves as a basis

for all federally funded food programs in the United States.

The research and advocacy group Physicians Committee for Responsible

Medicine (PCRM) had filed the lawsuit last December.

PCRM asserts that the current food pyramid is unhealthy because it

promotes the consumption of meat, eggs and dairy as part of the daily diet.

They also maintain that it is racially biased since nonwhite races are

more likely to be lactose intolerant and some are more susceptible to

diet-related chronic illnesses including heart disease, stroke, hypertension,

obesity, diabetes and certain types of cancer.

As a matter of fact, several groups and people within the African-American

community openly supported PCRM's lawsuit, including the NAACP, former Surgeon

General Joycelyn Elders, Luther King, III, and Muhammad Ali.

In its lawsuit, PCRM claimed that there were serious conflicts of interest

affecting six out of 11 members on the Advisory Committee, and that these

conflicts influenced their decisions

Some of the conflicts were as follows:

a.. Cutberto Garza (chairman of the committee) - direct ties with the

National Dairy Council

b.. Deckelbaum - received grant funding from the National Dairy

Promotion and Research Program and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association

c.. Grundy - served on the American Egg Board

d.. Johanna Dwyer - on the American Meat Institute Committee and the

National Dairy Promotion and Research Program Board and was also sponsored by

the National Dairy Council for a visiting professorship

e.. Roland Weinsier - received a $500,000 grant from Bristol-Myers

Squibb/Mead , a company that sells and promotes dairy-based products

f.. Eileen Kennedy - serves as an advisor to the Board of Directors of

the Dannon Research Institute, Inc., another dairy company.

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DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: ALWAYS, ALWAYS look at the details and try to find

out where the money is flowing as it will usually provide a clue as to where the

real truth lies. The Dairy Council is one clever group in infiltrating so many

members on the Food Pyramid committee. This is one of the major reasons why milk

is so strongly pushed.

However, I don't think they hold a candle to the grain industry. I don't

have the financial resources to conduct independent investigations like PCRM,

but I suspect that the committee was also composed of members with links to this

industry, which is why so many servings of breads and grains are recommended.

However, it is always possible that the only explanation for the ludicrous

recommendations for including so many grains in our diet is related to the

members' ignorance of the scientific literature.

PCRM again, as they have often in the past, did a really great job here in

taking a federal agency to task for acting improperly. My one and only problem

with them, as many of you have already heard me say, is that I strongly disagree

with their pro-vegan and anti-meat and eggs agenda.

When reading about this conflict of interest at the USDA, it reminds me of

the great expose that the USA Today did recently on the rampant conflicts of

interest in the FDA's drug approval process. They found that very often members

of the FDA scientific advisory boards had financial interests in the companies

whose drugs they were reviewing. Certainly, if the courts have ruled against the

USDA in the above case, it would most likely do so in this case against of the

FDA concerning the drug approvals. In my mind, it is actually a much stronger

case.

Related Articles:

Conflicts of Interest and the Public Trust

Conflicts of Interest Index Page

Congressional Conflicts of Interest

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[Guest guest]

Thanks so much, Sharon, for the two posts about aspirin and the debunking of

the " Food Triangle of Death. " They're surely keepers - and I sent them on to

all my relatives.

Susie )