Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola's corporate sponsorship for nutrition efforts has included giving $550,000 to James Hill, a University of Colorado professor, nutrition expert, and director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.
- This money, paid directly to Hill, was in addition to the $1 million the company donated to CU Anschutz to enable Hill to promote his global obesity-fighting campaign through the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN). The university returned that donation to the company, and GEBN disbanded Nov. 30, three months after The New York Times reported the previously undisclosed gift from Coca-Cola.
- The Denver Post also reported Coca-Cola covered Hill's travel costs for speaking engagements, was solicited by Hill about employment for his son, and helped Hill organize conferences for journalists who intended to change the obesity debate, which has centered in part around a reduction in sugary drinks consumption.
Dive Insight:
According to university emails reviewed by the Associated Press, Hill has been in touch with Coca-Cola leaders since at least 2009, including the company's former chief science officer Rhona Applebaum, who retired in November and will not be replaced at this time. In a 2014 email, Hill expressed his desire to dedicate the rest of his career to retargeting the obesity debate through "a very powerful coalition of the right people," which would become GEBN.
"We have the passion, the innovative ideas and the right approach. We need substantial resources," Hill wrote. "It is not fair that Coca-Cola is (singled) out as the #1 villain in the obesity world, but that is the situation and makes this your issue whether you like it or not. I want to help your company avoid the image of being a problem in peoples' lives and back to being a company that brings important and fun things to them."
Since the New York Times report in August, Coca-Cola and its corporate donations have been heavily scrutinized. Coca-Cola chief technical officer Ed Hays wrote in a USA Today column that the article "created confusion about our support of research and non-profit organizations." In September, Coca-Cola announced $118.6 million spent on various health research initiatives and programs as a way to promote transparency surrounding corporate sponsorship in the health and nutrition space.