Study pulls back curtain on contracts between Coca-Cola and the researchers it funds
When it funds scientific research, Coca-Cola includes a provision in its contracts with academic institutions that allows the beverage giant to pull its funding for a study at any point, according to a group of researchers who obtained several such agreements.
The policies could pressure recipients of the funding to pursue research that dovetails with Coca-Cola’s goals out of fear of having their project canceled, the researchers said in a paper published Tuesday, though they added that they found no example of that occurring.
The paper, which was published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, comes amid of the food and beverage industry’s the institutions and researchers it funded and the following year that would guide its support for scientific research.
