Safety considerations of nutraceuticals and functional foods

[No abstract available

What principles should guide interactions between population health researchers and the food industry? Systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature.

There is no explicit consensus amongst population health researchers regarding what constitutes acceptable or effective interactions with the food industry. This has led to confusion and disagreements over conflicts of interest, which can undermine the integrity of science. To clarify this issue, we aimed to systematically identify the key principles developed by population health researchers to prevent or minimize conflicts of interest when interacting with the food industry. Databases of peer-reviewed literature were searched. In addition, an advanced Google search, a request to experts seeking related documents, and hand searching of references were undertaken. Thematic analysis of the extracted data was undertaken. We examined 54 eligible documents describing guidelines for population health researchers when interacting with the food industry. Fifty-six principles were identified and synthesized in five themes. There were high levels of agreement in themes relating to research governance, transparency, and publication but less agreement and guidance on how principles should be applied in relation to funding and risk assessment. There is agreement on some of the general principles for preventing and minimizing conflicts of interests for population health researchers when interacting with the food industry. However, for issues such as assessing the appropriateness of an industry partner, greater clarity and consensus are required.MW, JA, NF, OF and KC are funded by core grants to Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge and the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR). CEDAR is a UKCRC public health research centre of excellence with funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, MRC, National Institute of Health Research and the Wellcome Trust. NGF acknowledges MRC funding (MC_UU_12015/5). The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent those of any of the above named funders