Jake Young is a 
The study, published by the Public Library of Science online journal PLoS Medicine, echoes other findings that show industry-funded research on drugs is more likely to be favorable to the drugs than independent research.Ludwig's team reviewed 111 studies on soft drinks, juice and milk that were published between 1999 and 2003.
"We chose beverages because they represent an area of nutrition that's very controversial, that's relevant to children, and involves a part of the food industry that is highly profitable and where research findings could have direct financial implications," Ludwig said.
Studies funded entirely by industry were four times to eight times more likely to be favorable to the financial interests of the sponsors than those paid for by other groups, the researchers found.
Of the 22 studies clearly identified as funded by companies or industry groups, just three, or 13.6 percent, had findings that were unfavorable to the beverage studied.
More than 38 percent of the independently funded studies were negative, the researchers found.
This "raises serious concerns that some food industries may distort the scientific record on diet and health," Martijn Katan, professor of nutrition at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, wrote in a commentary in the same journal.
As I have said before, I try not to judge studies by their origin or how they are funded. However, I can't say that I am really that surprised...
