Coca-Cola Science and Health Officer Applebaum Retires After Funding Controversy
November 24 2015 - 5:13PM
Dow Jones News
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
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2015 16:58 ET (21:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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