Deception from The BMJ

On 24th September 2015, BMJ issued a press release titled BMJ investigation questions expert advice underpinning new US dietary guidelines. ¹ The press release stated:

The press release failed to mention that nature of the BMJ Investigation, the name of the expert report or the name of the committee that produced the report. The expert report is the “Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee” ².

Dr Fiona Godlee is a medical doctor who was editor in chief of The British Medical Journal from March 2005 until 31 December 2021.

The BMJ Investigation was an article written by Nina Teicholz and published in The BMJ on 23rd September 2015 in response to the above report. ³

It was not a BMJ investigation. Why is The BMJ press release stating that they, The BMJ, performed an investigation when it is clear that this is not the case?

The press release was issued whilst Dr Godlee was the editor in chief of The British Medical Journal.

At the end of the article in The BMJ, written by Teicholz, it clearly states:

I contacted The BMJ and received the following response on 29 June 2017 at 20:04.

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation provided the seed funding for NuSI, the organisation founded by Gary Taubes and Peter Attia to promote low-carbohydrate nutritional science. ⁴

Last updated on Thursday 27 February 2025 at 11:21 by administrators

1. BMJ (2015) BMJ investigation questions expert advice underpinning new US dietary guidelines. BMJ. Press Release (24 Sep 2015) [online]. Available from: www.bmj.com/company/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/US-dietary-guidelines.pdf.
2. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (n.d.) Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. [online]. Available from: https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/.[online].
3. Teicholz, N. (2015). The scientific report guiding the US dietary guidelines: Is it scientific? BMJ, 351, h4962.
4. Taubes, G. (2012) The Launch of The Nutrition Science Initiative [online]. Available from: http://garytaubes.com/the-launch-of-the-nutrition-science-initiative/ (Accessed 26 June 2017).