When I saw the title of this study, I had two questions:
- Why would anyone do a study like this? (OK, in short-term studies, consuming water or soup before meals reduces immediate calorie consumption, but in the long term?)
- Who paid for it? (Getting the answer to this one took some digging).
The study: Association between soup consumption and obesity: A systematic review with meta-analysis. M.Kuroda and K. Ninomiya. Physiology & Behavior, Volume 225, 15 October 2020, 113103.
Conclusion: “soup consumption is significantly related to lower odds ratio of obesity…suggesting that soup consumption was inversely correlated with a risk of obesity.”
The paper’s abstract did not say who funded the study. I got the complete paper from Cornell University’s library website.
The paper says nothing about who funded the study. It only says:
Competing interests: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
But then I looked more closely at the authors’ affiliations.
Bingo!
Ajinomoto mainly makes frozen foods, but also sells soup stocks. It is best known for making MSG (mono-sodium glutamate), an ingredient in most commercial soups.
MSG conveys umami, the fifth taste.
The Ajinomoto website says: “To read further about Umami, please visit the Umami Information Center.”
Who, you might wonder, funds the “non-profit” Umami Information Center? Here’s how the site answers that question.
Q. What is the financial source of the Umami Information Center?
A. UIC is financed by membership fee and donation from a food industry.
Want to take bets on what company is meant by “a food industry?”
My take on this: in effect, both authors work for Ajinomoto, a company with a strong commercial interest in demonstrating the health benefits of MSG.
Do the authors have conflicted interests in this study? It sure looks that way.
