Session 5: Nutrition communication. The role of trust in health communication and the effect of conflicts of interest among scientists.

One of the key challenges facing efforts to translate nutrition research into public health recommendations is understanding how the public will respond to these efforts, including whether they will trust the information. Among factors that influence trust in health communication is the extent to which the sources of the information are considered accurate, balanced, fair and unbiased. In relation to bias, few issues rise to as high a level of concern as the suspicion of conflicts of interest among scientists. Sometimes, even the perception of conflict of interest is enough to cast doubt on the integrity of the research and credibility of the results. The present paper provides an overview of research on conflicts of interest in science, including ways in which it has touched the field of nutrition. It then offers data on public views about conflicts of interest in science, including the extent to which funding sources influence trustworthiness of the research. The conclusions suggest implications for translational research in nutrition.