Conflicts of interest are common, in the food industry as in others, and often involve-or corrupt-scientific research as well. The most serious cases undoubtedly involve scientific fraud, unpunished to this day, designed to conceal the human and animal health hazards associated with exposure to agrotoxics. As has been repeatedly reported in connection with glyphosophic and neonicotinoid pesticides. But there is much more, as two recent studies reveal.
AAA transparency wanted
The relationships between research institutions and the Big 4 of agrochemicals, Big Pharma and
Big Food
are necessary. To industry, to gather the scientific evidence required for the purpose of approvals of certain product categories and claims related to them. To research organizations, to support themselves and carry on activities.
Transparency about possible conflicts of interest of authors and editors is a must in order to objectively assess the reliability and quality of content. All the more so since scientific publications influence the risk assessments on which public decisions are based. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has therefore defined the criteria to be followed for the declaration of conflicts of interest, in its guidelines on scientific text editing. (1)
BOS (Business over Science)
Editors of most scientific journals do not care about the dearth of conflict-of-interest statements, relying on the inability of the regular reader to know or even suspect them (2,3).
Two recent studies published in the BMJ(British Medical Journal) and PLoS Med offer a qualitative-quantitative statistical analysis of the average level of adherence of scientific journals to the transparency criteria prescribed in the ICMJE guidelines. And their results, dramatically, converge:
– In the first study, where 350 papers were analyzed, 82% of authors and 99.4% of editors did not declare the existence of conflicts of interest. But 69 percent of them were found to have relationships with institutions or organizations, including industry groups. (4)
– in the second, analysis of 130 papers showed that 99 percent of authors, 88 percent of editors and 69 percent of journals collaborated with public institutions or professional organizations. (5)
The economic interests at stake
Scientific journals make profit from the sale of article reprints, advertising and commercial sponsorships. In medical journals, conflicts of interest arise from reprints of articles that contain drug advertisements from sponsoring companies, thus influencing editors‘ decisions. (6)
The most influential journals make more revenue from citations obtained in other studies. Indeed, the increase in citations corresponds to the increased attractiveness for authors and sponsors. Work carried out with industry support, ça va sans dir, garners more citations and positive results than unfunded work. (7)
Agribusiness supply chain and research, risks and opportunities
Agribusiness plays an important role in medical and scientific research. Positively, in the validation of health benefits associated with the intake of various foods and substances contained therein to humans and animals. Negatively, to control the results of risk analysis on products that are unhealthy i.e. hazardous to health, agrotoxics in particular, sine care of their social and environmental impact (8,9,10).
Conflicts are bound to emerge in any case, with repercussions first and foremost on the reputation and credibility of scientific journals and marquees in lab coats. Therefore, a cohesive intervention on the governance of scientific publishing is needed. (11) Open-access registries should be established to collect conflict-of-interest statements and isolate bad apples with name & shame mechanisms, before it is too late.
Dario Dongo and Andrea Adelmo Della Penna
Notes
(1) Dal-Ré et al. (2020) Mandatory disclosure of financial interests of journals and editors. BMJ 370:m2872, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2872
(2) Lanvière et al. (2015) The oligopoly of academic publishers in the digital era. PLoS One 10:e0127502, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127502
(3) International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (2019) Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals. http://www.icmje.org/icmjerecommendations.pdf
(4) Dal-Ré et al. (2018) Are journals following the ICMJE recommendations complying with conflicts of interest disclosure policies. Eur. J. Intern. Med. 57:e17-9, doi:10.1016/j.ejim.2018.07.025
(5) Dal-Ré et al. (2019) Editors’ and authors’ individual conflicts of interest disclosure and journal transparency. A cross-sectional study of high-impact medical specialty journals. BMJ Open 9:e029796, doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029796
(6) Fugh-Berman et al. (2006) Advertising in medical journals: should current practices change? PLoS Med 3:e130, doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030130
(7) Lundh et al. (2017) Industry sponsorship and research outcome. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 2:MR000033, doi: 10.1002/14651858.MR000033.pub3
(8) Mozaffarian (2017) Conflict of interest and the role of the food industry in nutrition research. Jama 317(17):1755-56, doi:10.1001/jama.2017.3456
(9) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) CDC’s guiding principles for public-private partnerships. https://www.cdc.gov/about/pdf/business/partnershipguidance-4-16-14.pdf.
(10) Bero et al. (2018) Conflict of interest in nutrition research. JAMA 320(1):93-95, doi:10.1001/jama.2018.5662
(11) Bion et al. (2018) White paper: statement on conflicts of interest. Intensive Care Med. 44:1657-68, doi: 10.1007/s00134-018-5349-8
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in Food Technologies and Biotechnologies, qualified food technologist, he follows the research and development area. With particular regard to European research projects (in Horizon 2020, PRIMA) where the FARE division of WIISE Srl, a benefit company, participates.
