Exhibit 601

Financial conflicts of interest and reporting bias regarding the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review of systematic reviews

Exhibit 601 · Research article

Financial conflicts of interest and reporting bias regarding the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review of systematic reviews

Those reviews with conflicts of interest were five times more likely to present a conclusion of no positive association than those without them (relative risk: 5.0, 95% CI: 1.3–19.3).

Seventeen systematic reviews (18 conclusions). Six disclosed a food-industry financial conflict. Of 12 conclusions from reviews without a disclosed conflict, 10 (83.3 percent) found a potential risk for weight gain; of 6 conclusions from reviews with a disclosed conflict, 5 (83.3 percent) found the evidence insufficient. The authors state they cannot rule out publication bias among reviews declaring no conflict.

Source: Bes-Rastrollo M, Schulze MB, Ruiz-Canela M, Martinez-Gonzalez MA; PLoS Medicine 10(12):e1001578
Date: 31 December 2013
Quoted from: Abstract, Methods and Findings
Grade: Peer-reviewed
Document: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001578
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding AGR-2.12: Peer-reviewed Three analyses of nutrition research compared funding source with conclusions and found industry-sponsored work more often favorable to industry. A meta-analysis of 12 reports found a risk ratio of 1.31 that the authors call not significant. An analysis of 17 reviews of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain found a risk ratio of 5.0 for reviews with a disclosed industry conflict. A study of 206 articles on soft drinks, juice and milk found that 0 percent of all-industry-funded interventional studies had unfavorable conclusions against 37 percent of studies with no industry funding.