Top public nutrition adviser faces criticism after receiving money from chocolate industry
Carrie Ruxton, who regularly contributes comments and opinion to FoodNavigator, has come under fire recently over her alleged ties to chocolate manufacturer Ferrero.
A member of Food Standards Scotland (FSS), Dr. Ruxton is one of the UK’s top nutritionists, appearing regularly on television and working with a range of public health bodies including the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Reports last week questioned the former Conservative Party candidate’s consultancy work for Ferrero. Ruxton has contributed research and advice to Ferrero's corporate social responsibility programme since 2014.
Food journalist Joanna Blythman called the revelation “simply unacceptable” and accused Dr. Ruxton of “unsuccessfully attempting to downplay the very real damage that sugar does to public health”. Blythman said she was unfit to sit on FSS and offer nutritional advice to the public.
Ruxton released the following response, defending her position at FSS and the breadth of her experience in the industry:
“My long-term and broad experience of the food industry – working with nearly 100 different companies and trade bodies since 2004 – as well as my track record in the public sector writing obesity strategies and audits, have given me the knowledge to serve effectively on the Food Standards Scotland Board since April 2015 […] My work does not involve the promotion of dietary messages that conflict with those of Food Standards Scotland. Up until now, no-one has expressed any concerns about this work and the Chairman of Food Standards Scotland has been aware of my freelance activities since appointing me."
She also defended her record of publishing quarterly declarations of interest, saying it goes “well beyond the minimum required by listing the types of work that I carry out for clients”.
Ruxton says her connection to the industry has brought companies and consumer groups together to discuss reformulation, advertising and ingredient issues for the better.
She went on to dismiss allegations, published in The Times, that she opposed the UK's sugar tax – to be implemented in 2018 – saying that doubts she held previously over the practical effectiveness of such measures have been resolved by evidence from Public Health England and details of the legislation itself.
Even so, other researchers such Dr. Simon Capewell - professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, told The Times that Ruxton's consultancy work amounted to a “major conflict of interest” rendering her position at FSS “untenable”.
Sugar coated science
Dr. Simon Campbell, professor of public health and policy, voiced concerns over a long history of corporate sponsorship in scientific research; major tobacco firms were infamously found to have funded and manipulated research on the health effects of smoking, and last year documents were uncovered exposing the sugar industry's efforts to downplay the dangers of sucrose in a similar manner.
In the latter case, the findings show the sugar industry successfully paid university research departments to produce results that would look favourably on sugar's role in the diet and to shift blame for diseases such as coronary heart disease onto fats.
Campbell thus argued in a report last year that no industry funding of scientific research should be accepted, saying it would ultimately minimise public policy and legal liability.
