Coke-Funded Anti-Obesity Nonprofit Disbands

NEW YORK CITY -- A nonprofit organization funded by the Coca-Cola Co. to fight obesity has ceased operations following news reports publicizing the beverage maker's ties to the group.

The Global Energy Balance Network said on Dec. 1 that it was immediately "discontinuing operations due to resource limitations." The group had previously said that Coke funding had no impact upon its activities.

However, the Associated Press reported in early December that it had learned of email exchanges suggesting that Coke helped select the group's leaders, edited its mission statement and advised on content for its website.

Coke also told the AP that it accepted the retirement notice from Rhona Applebaum, its chief health and science officer, who had managed the relationship with the group and that it was no longer working with the Global Energy Balance Network.

The Global Energy Balance Network was led by James O. Hill, a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The organization first came under scrutiny in August after The New York Times reported on its funding by Coke.

Critics of Coke's funding of the anti-obesity group say the beverage giant pushed the idea of exercise to shift focus away from the role of sweetened beverages and excess calories in poor health and obesity.