Flour industry bread funds Atkins diet critic

ANDREW MURRAY-WATSON AND TOM CURTIS

WHEN Dr Susan Jebb, one of Britain’s leading nutrition experts, condemned the hugely popular protein-based Atkins diet last week, slimmers began putting bread, potatoes and pasta back on the menu.

But an investigation by Scotland on Sunday has discovered that Jebb, head of nutrition and health research at Britain’s Medical Research Council (MRC), is working on a report into obesity funded by the Flour Advisory Bureau (FAB).

The bureau is the lobbying and consumer arm of the National Association of British and Irish Millers, and this is the second report Jebb has written for it, following an earlier study into obesity in Britain published in 1999. In total, the MRC has been paid around £20,000 to produce the two reports written by Jebb. The first recommended diets "rich in complex carbohydrates and low in fat".

Although FAB paid the MRC for the obesity report, not Jebb, the link to the flour industry has led some to question the scientist’s appraisal of the slimming technique. Her new study, according to FAB, will be looking at the "health benefits associated with eating 55% of energy intake as complex carbohydrates". Jebb denies any conflict of interest.

Last night Dr John Briffa, a London-based independent expert in nutritional medicine, said: "It’s up to other people to decide whether Susan Jebb’s view stems from her links with the flour industry. But if it appears that her scientific view has been skewed by the food industry, that is of enormous concern."

Read full article here: Scotland on Sunday