250 TH E CH I NA STU DYbusiness. As far as I know, they do not pay scientists to "cook the data."
They do not bribe elected officials or make sordid underhanded deals.
The situation is much worse.
The entire system-government, science, medicine, industry and
media-promotes profits over health, technology over food and confu-
sion over clarity. Most, but not all, of the confusion about nutrition is
created in legal, fully disclosed ways and is disseminated by unsuspect-
ing, well-intentioned people, whether they are researchers, politicians
or journalists. The most damaging aspect of the system is not sensa-
tional, nor is it likely to create much of a stir upon its discovery. It is a
silent enemy that few people see and understand.
My experiences within the scientific community illustrate how the
entire system generates confusing information and why you haven't
heard the message of this book before. In the following chapters, I have
divided the "system" of problems into the entities of science, govern-
ment, industry and medicine, but, as you will come to see, there are
instances where it is nearly impossible to distinguish science from in-
dustry, government from science or government from industry.