Wenhua Zhao and Junshi Chen both serve as preeminent public health officials in China. At the same time, Zhao and Chen have led Coca-Cola’s propaganda and lobbying efforts in China. They have declared no conflicts of interest while publishing in outlets such as the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American CDC’s publications.

China is just the latest example in a global trend: the soda industry’s exploitation of the nonprofit conflict of interest loophole.

No one would accept a government health official simultaneously working for Coca-Cola. Yet these officials have simultaneously served on nonprofits founded and funded by Coca-Cola.

On first glance, Junshi Chen’s academic and government credentials appear unassailable. He is Senior Research Professor of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet at the same time, Chen serves as the  “National Center Director” of Exercise is Medicine in China and the Director of the International Life Sciences Institute’s Chinese arm, ILSI Focal Point China. Note that Coca-Cola was the “first founding partner” of EIM.

Wenhua Zhao is the Deputy Director of ILSI Focal Point China, one step below her China CDC colleague Junshi Chen. Zhao is also a member of the EIM National Center Advisory board.

The connections between the Chinese CDC, Coca-Cola-founded Exercise is Medicine, food industry-funded International Life Sciences Institute, and the Coca-Cola-funded Global Energy Balance Network are extensive.

We’ve seen this same pattern, not just in China, but in Malaysia, South Africa, and the United States. It is tempting to place all the blame on soda companies. And they do deserve it, but Big Soda’s penetration would not be possible if these public health agencies and academic institutions implemented clear conflict of interest policies and closed their nonprofit loopholes.

Read the full article about the non-profit conflict of interest loophole by Derek Fields and Russ Greene at Philanthropy Daily.