Signed (titles and institutions are for identification purposes only),

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To the Editor:

The scientific nonsense being peddled by the Coca-Cola-funded Global Energy Balance Network and described in the Times’ detailed exposé is outrageous (“Coca-Cola Funds Effort to Alter Obesity Battle,” August 10). GEBN’s vice president says in an introductory video: “Most of the focus in the popular media and in the scientific press is that they’re eating too much, eating too much, eating too much, blaming fast food, blaming sugary drinks and so on. And there’s really virtually no compelling evidence that that in fact is the cause.”

The Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee provides compelling evidence for the causal link between sugar drinks and disease, as well as the need for

exercise. Unfortunately, Coca-Cola and its academic helpers won’t accept the well-documented evidence that sugar drinks are a major contributor to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

Signed (titles and institutions are for identification purposes only), Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.

President

Center for Science in the Public Interest Lawrence J. Appel, M.D., M.P.H.

C. David Molina, M.D., M.P.H. Professor of Medicine Epidemiology and International Health Director, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Alberto Ascherio, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Suzanne M. Babich, Dr.P.H., M.S.

Associate Dean of Global Health

Professor of Health Policy and Management Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health Indiana University

George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D.

S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Surgery

Associate Director of Nutrition, Division of Nutrition Harvard Medical School

Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D.

Dean, Sanford School of Public Policy

Robert L. Flowers Professor of Public Policy

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

Duke University

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Carlos A. Camargo, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology Massachusetts General Hospital

Harvard Medical School Marilyn E. Carroll, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Department of Psychiatry

University of Minnesota Mark Creager, M.D., FAHA President

American Heart Association Bob England, M.D., M.P.H.

Director

Maricopa County (Arizona) Department of Public Health Caldwell Esselstyn, M.D., FACS

Director, Cardiovascular Prevention and Reversal Program Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute

Alejandro Gugliucci, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor and Associate Dean for Research, COM Director of Sponsored Programs

Touro University-California

Joan Gussow, M.Ed., Ed.D., B.A.

Adjunct Professor Teachers College Columbia University

David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., FACPM, FACP President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Founding Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center Robert Lustig, M.D.

Professor

University of California San Francisco School of Medicine Vasanti Malik, Sc.D.

Research Scientist Department of Nutrition

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Barbara J. Moore, Ph.D., FTOS

President and CEO, Shape Up America!®

Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H

Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health New York University

John D. Potter, M.D., Ph.D.

Member and Senior Advisor, Division of Public Health Sciences Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology University of Washington

Goutham Rao, M.D.

Vice Chair for Academic Affairs

NorthShore and University of Chicago Departments of Family Medicine Bill Reger-Nash, Ed.D.

Professor Emeritus,

West Virginia University School of Public Health Eric Rimm, Sc.D.

Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School

Channing Division of Network Medicine Brigham and Woman's Hospital

Jeffrey Ritterman, M.D.

Assistant Clinical Coordinator Joint M.S.P.A.S./M.P.H.

Touro University

William C. Roberts, M.D.

Executive Director, Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute

Dean, A. Webb Roberts Center for Continuing Medical Education

Editor-in-Chief, The American Journal of Cardiology and Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings

Frank Sacks, M.D., Sc.B.

Professor of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

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Department of Nutrition

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Marlene Schwartz, Ph.D.

Director

Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity University of Connecticut

Meir Stampfer, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Assoc Director, Channing Division of Network Medicine

Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital Lyn Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.

Associate Professor of Epidemiology

University of Minnesota School of Public Health Division of Epidemiology and Community Health Mary Story, Ph.D., R.D.

Professor of Global Health and Community and Family Medicine Duke University

Y. Claire Wang, M.D., Sc.D.

Associate Professor,

Health Policy & Management,

Columbia Mailman School of Public Health Jean Welsh, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N.

Assistant Professor School of Medicine Emory University

Walter Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H., M.P.H.

Frederick John Stare Professor and Department Chair Department of Nutrition

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Professor, Department of Medicine

Harvard Medical School Jake Williams, M.S.

Executive Director Healthier Colorado Grace Wyshak, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry,

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Harvard Medical School

Professor of Biostatistics and Global Health and Population

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Biostatistics and Global Health and Population Lisa R. Young, Ph.D., R.D.

Adjunct professor of Nutrition, New York University

Jeff Zayach, M.S.

Executive Director

Boulder County Colorado Public Health