KO Coca Cola Company

   By Mike Esterl 
 

A Coca-Cola Co. executive overseeing health research is stepping down after the soda giant came under fire for funding researchers accused of downplaying the role of sugary drinks in obesity.

Atlanta-based Coke said Tuesday that Chief Science and Health Officer Rhona Applebaum, 61, had decided to retire. A spokeswoman added there are no immediate plans to fill the position.

The company confirmed the departure after the Associated Press earlier Tuesday published email exchanges between Ms. Applebaum and Global Energy Balance Network, a Coke-funded nonprofit that suggested Americans were overly fixated on calories and not paying enough attention to exercise. Coke's financial and logistics support to the group was first detailed in a New York Times article in August.

"It has become clear to us that there was not a sufficient level of transparency with regard to the company's involvement," said Coke Chief Executive Muhtar Kent in a statement.

In a transparency push, Coke disclosed in September that it had spent almost $120 million to fund scientific research as well as health and fitness programs in the U.S. since 2010. The hundreds of grants include contributions of more than a million dollars each to Louisiana State University and the University of South Carolina as well as the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Cancer Society.

Public-health critics say calories are fueling obesity more than a lack of exercise, and many point to sugary beverages such as soda in particular. Coke says it has never disputed the role of calories and that it is unfair to single out a food or drink. Still, Mr. Kent acknowledged in September that funding questions had fueled "confusion and mistrust."

Since then, the maker of Coke, Sprite and Fanta has said it won't renew financial sponsorship of several health groups including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Cardiology.

The University of Colorado and Global Energy Balance Network also have said they are returning a $1 million grant from Coke for obesity research. The nonprofit's president, James O. Hill, is a professor at University of Colorado. The group also includes academics from other universities.

Ms. Applebaum played a key role in helping create and steer the Global Energy Balance Network, according to the Associated Press, which published several emails Tuesday between the Coke executive and the group.

"Akin to a political campaign, we will develop, deploy and evolve a powerful and multifaceted strategy to counter radical organizations and their proponents," Ms. Applebaum wrote the group in one of the emails last year, referring to efforts to oppose soda-industry critics.

By partnering with other groups, the Global Energy Balance Network and allies would become "too large for any naysayers to cull the pack and attack," she added in another email last year, according to the Associated Press.

Ms. Applebaum offered media training to the group and Mr. Kent, Coke's CEO, emailed Ms. Applebaum for reasons he could give talk-show host Charlie Rose to invite a Global Energy Balance Network leader on the show, according to the emails.

The decision to retire was made by Ms. Applebaum, who approached the company in October, a Coke spokeswoman said Tuesday. The company didn't make Ms Applebaum available.

Ms. Applebaum joined Coke in 2004, becoming chief science and health officer in 2013.

Sandy Douglas, Coke's North American chief, recently began what the company is calling "a listening tour" with health groups and industry critics.

"We're looking at how we make changes to our business in a way that better serves consumers and is more helpful and credible in addressing obesity," Mr. Douglas wrote in a Tuesday memo to employees.

Write to Mike Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2015 16:58 ET (21:58 GMT)

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