peter scholl Westend61/Newscom
Six nutrition papers retracted from JAMA Network. The prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network announced Wednesday that it has retracted six papers that included Cornell University food scientist Brian Wansink as an author.
Wansink made a name for himself over the past decade pushing research on small environmental changes that could majorly effect people's eating habits. His research was widely disseminated in major media and incorporated into government programs—most prominently, a program to encourage healthier eating in school cafeterias called the Smarter Lunchrooms program.
The Smarter Lunchrooms program was spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and designed by Wansink and his Cornell colleague David Just. As I noted here last August,
For the better half of a decade, American public schools have been part of a grand experiment in "choice architecture" dressed up as simple, practical steps to spur healthy eating. But new research reveals the "Smarter Lunchrooms" program is based largely on junk science.
The sham data behind the Smarter Lunchrooms program was exposed last year by PhD student Nicholas Brown and by University of Liverpool profressor Eric Robinson. From there, more of Wansink's work started being called into question. Now, the JAMA Network has announced the retraction of six Wansink articles published in its JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Pediatrics journals from 2005 through 2014.
In May, "notices of Expression of Concern were published regarding articles published in JAMA and the JAMA Network journals that included Brian Wansink," said a statement from the JAMA Network:
At that time, Cornell University was contacted and requested to conduct an independent evaluation of the articles to determine whether the results are valid. Cornell University has notified JAMA that based on its investigation they are unable to provide assurances regarding the scientific validity of the 6 studies.
A response from Cornell stated that "because we do not have access to the original data, we cannot assure you that the results of the studies are valid."
The six retracted papers include research into how serving bowl size effects the amount of food people eat in one sitting; how watching TV affects people's eating habits; why it's a bad idea to grocery shop while hungry; and how to get students to order healthier lunches. Here's the whole list of questionable Wansink studies that have now been retracted:
"Super bowls: serving bowl size and food consumption" (2005)
"Consequences of belonging to the 'clean plate club'" (2008)
"First foods most: after 18-hour fast, people drawn to starches first and vegetables last" (2012)
"Fattening fasting: hungry grocery shoppers buy more calories, not more food" (2013)
"Preordering school lunch encourages better food choices by children" (2013)
"Watch what you eat: action-related television content increases food intake" (2014)
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For Virginia's craft distillers, "a tasting room is essentially a break-even business," says Scott Harris, owner of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. Harris says Virginia's hyper-regulatory spirits laws make it difficult to operate in the state. […] And while craft brewers and vintners can lawfully serve patrons to the point of visible intoxication, distillers are allowed to pour just 3 ounces of product per customer, per day. Exacerbating the problem are the drastically different tax structures. Excise taxes on spirits are presently $19.93 per gallon (the third highest rate in the nation). Beer is taxed at $.26 and wine at $1.51.
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