Rhona Applebaum has “made the decision to retire” and a transition is underway, the company said in a statement to Business Insider on Tuesday.
Bloomberg’s Craig Giamonna was the first to report on Applebaum’s retirement.
Applebaum was involved in funding of the Global Energy Balance Network, a group that claims exercise, not cutting calories, is the key to maintaining a healthy weight.
Research suggests that’s not true: “Studies tend to show that in terms of weight loss, diet plays a much bigger role than exercise,” Philip Stanforth, a professor of exercise science at the University of Texas and the executive director of the Fitness Institute of Texas, told Business Insider.
Coca-Cola donated $1.5 million last year to help start the Global Energy Balance Network and provided another $4 million in funding to two of the organization’s founding members, the New York Times revealed in August. Emails obtained by the Associated Press show that Coca-Cola and Applebaum have also been “instrumental” in formulating the group’s message.
The Global Energy Balance Network says on its website that “there’s really virtually no compelling evidence” that sugary drinks, fast food, and eating too much is to blame for the world’s obesity epidemic.
Coca-Cola has promised to increase transparency about its research partnerships going forward.
Giammona also reported that Coke Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent repeated that promise Tuesday.
“Our support for scientific research was based on the desire to identify a more holistic, workable approach based on the best evidence,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “It has become clear to us that there was not a sufficient level of transparency with regard to the company’s involvement with the Global Energy Balance Network. Clearly, we have more work to do to reflect the values of this great company in all that we do.”
This article was originally published on Business Insider. Copyright 2015.
