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Article ID: CBB001210186

We Spent a Million Bucks and Then We Had to Do Something: The Unexpected Implications of Industry Involvement in Trans Fat Research (2011)

Schleifer, David (Author)

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
Volume: 31
Pages: 460--471
Publication date: 2011
Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/0270467611422837

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Research Science and industry Nutrition Fats; oils; lipids Corporations 20th century, late

Many scholars assume that industry meddles in scientific research in order to defend their products. But this article shows that industry meddling in science can have a variety of consequences. American food manufacturers long denied that trans fats were associated with disease. Academic scientists, government scientists, and activists in fact endorsed trans fats as a healthier alternative to saturated fats. But in 1990, a high-profile study showed that trans fats increased risk factors for heart disease more than saturated fats did. Industry funded a U.S. Department of Agriculture study that they hoped would exonerate trans fats. But the industry-funded U.S. Department of Agriculture study also indicated that trans fats increased risk factors for heart disease more than saturated fats. Industry quickly began developing trans fat alternatives. This confirms that corporations get involved in science in order to defend their products. But involvement in science can be the very means by which corporations persuade themselves to change their products.

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