AIMS calls on The Lancet to remove GBD study
The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has written to the editor of The Lancet requesting the immediate removal of the report on the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (2019 GBD) study due to what AIMS claims to be “its seriously misleading content.”
In his letter, AIMS chair John Thorley said that the 2019 GBD study “remains fully accessible on The Lancet website to any web user and is frequently cited by academics, NGOs and public health professionals, and yet data presented as fact, has subsequently been questioned by several academics and charities such as the World Cancer Research Fund and the Academy of Nutritional Sciences.”
He continued: “If the data in relation to red meat is inaccurate, it begs the question of how much of the rest of the report is also misleading and why, despite the very real possibility that The Lancet is in breach of its own editorial guidelines has it persisted with keeping this ‘inaccurate and questionable dossier’ in the public domain?”
Thorley went on to say that that he looked forward to the editor-in-chief’s reply and explanation with regards to the questions posed in his letter.
He said: “Misinformation such as this could have a negative impact on consumer confidence to eat and enjoy an important staple food, and severely affect the country’s farming and meat processing sector. It also raises the issue of public confidence in The Lancet, one of the leading commentators on human health.
“In the meantime, I strongly recommend that anyone wishing to cite the GBD 2019 Report in any research, strategy document or policy decision should be aware that there is considerable unease over its contents”
Prior challenges
In a letter published by The Lancet, a group of international scientists, which included Professors Alice Stanton and Frederic Leroy, said that they had some “serious concerns” about the 2019 study.
The group called on the authors of a 2019 study, which claimed a 36 fold higher estimate of death attributable to red meat intake, to address questions on the reliability of the study’s data.
Since then, the British Meat Processors Association, the Institute of Meat and World Cancer Research Fund International have all spoken out about the accuracy of the 2019 GBD study’s claims.
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