Appendix 1

From: Jayne Woodside

Sent: 23 November 2015 08:35
To: 'aamico@cspinet.org'
Subject: FW: COIs needed for BMJ retraction letter

Dear Angela,
Please fine attached.
Best wishes,
Jayne
Professor Jayne Woodside
Nutrition and Metabolism Group
Centre for Public Health
First Floor
Institute of Clinical Science B
Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
UK
Tel: 0044 2890 632585
Fax: 0044 2890 235900

From: Bonnie Liebman [mailto:bliebman@cspinet.org]

Sent: 19 November 2015 16:08
To: Bonnie Liebman
Subject: COIs needed for BMJ retraction letter

Dear Colleague:
In response to our letter asking the BMJ to retract the investigation by Nina Teicholz, the
journal has told us that the BMJ is continuing to review this article and plan to respond more
fully when our further enquiries are complete.
In the meantime, the BMJ has invited us to post the letter as a rapid response to the online
article. In order to post the letter, we have to send the journal a conflict-of-interest form for
each co-signer.
Please fill out page 4 of the form (attached) and email it back to my colleague, Angela Amico
(aamico@cspinet.org). Once we hear from everyone, she will submit the forms to the BMJ.
More information about competing interests for a rapid response is available here:
http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/forms-policies-and-checklists/declarationcompeting-interests

Best wishes,
Bonnie Liebman

_______________________________
Bonnie F. Liebman, MS
Director of Nutrition
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1220 L St., NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: (202) 777-8335
Fax: (202) 265-4954

From: Bonnie Liebman [mailto:bliebman@cspinet.org]

Sent: 05 November 2015 17:27
To: Bonnie Liebman
Subject: request for retraction of Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report investigation

Dear Colleague: Thank you for agreeing to sign the letter urging the BMJ to retract its
investigation of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committees report. The letter was signed
by more than 180 scientists in 19 countries.
We sent the final version of the letter (attached) to the BMJ editors this morning. You can
also find a version of the letter with live links to the footnotes on our website (see URL
below). The letter notes (at the end of the last page) that affiliations were listed for purposes
of identification only.
http://cspinet.org/bmj-retraction-letter.html
Best wishes,
Bonnie Liebman
_______________________________
Bonnie F. Liebman, MS
Director of Nutrition
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1220 L St., NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: (202) 777-8335
Fax: (202) 265-4954
From: Jeff Cronin
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2015 10:17 AM
To: fgodlee@bmj.com
Cc: rcoombes@bmj.com
Subject: request for retraction of Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report
investigation
Dear Editors,
Please accept this letter asking the BMJ to retract the investigation by Nina Teicholz into the
report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
Sincerely,
Jeff Cronin
Director of Communications
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1220 L Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: 202.777.8370
Cell: 202-421-8911
3

From: Angela Amico [mailto:aamico@cspinet.org]

Sent: 04 November 2015 15:23
To: Jayne Woodside
Subject: RE: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3

Great, thank you for your support.

Best,
Angela
Angela Amico, MPH
Project Coordinator
Health Promotion Policy & Biotechnology
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1220 L Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20005
Direct: 202-777-8307
aamico@cspinet.org
From: Jayne Woodside [mailto:j.woodside@qub.ac.uk]
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2015 2:50 AM
To: Angela Amico <aamico@cspinet.org>
Subject: RE: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3
Dear Angela,
I am PhD.
Best wishes,
Jayne
Professor Jayne Woodside
Nutrition and Metabolism Group
Centre for Public Health
First Floor
Institute of Clinical Science B
Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
UK
Tel: 0044 2890 632585
Fax: 0044 2890 235900

From: Jayne Woodside

Sent: 02 November 2015 07:52
To: Michelle McKinley (m.mckinley@qub.ac.uk); Marie Cantwell
Subject: FW: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3
Professor Jayne Woodside
Nutrition and Metabolism Group
Centre for Public Health
First Floor
Institute of Clinical Science B
Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
UK
Tel: 0044 2890 632585
Fax: 0044 2890 235900
From: Angeliki Papadaki [mailto:Angeliki.Papadaki@bristol.ac.uk]
Sent: 01 November 2015 12:48
To: Arne Astrup; Saris, Wim; Inge Huybrechts; manios@hua.gr; Inga rsdttir; Andy Ness;
susan.jebb@phc.ox.ac.uk; Agneta Yngve; Sibylle Kranz; lmoreno@unizar.es;
clare.collins@newcastle.edu.au; Antonis Kafatos; Jayne Woodside; Janet Cade; Dianne Ward
Subject: Fwd: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3

Dear colleagues,
Please see attached a suggestion for a BMJ retraction letter, instigated by Frank Hu at
Harvard. We were asked to circulate the letter for signatures.
If you agree, please send an email to Bonnie Liebman (bliebman@cspinet.org) with a similar
content to the below, in blue font, and circulate to your colleagues.

I have read the full version of the attached letter and I

agree to include my sign on it.
I endorse its full content and the request to the BMJ to
retract the journalist's article.
Kind regards,
Angeliki

From: Angela Amico [mailto:aamico@cspinet.org]

Sent: 02 November 2015 22:22
To: Jayne Woodside
Subject: RE: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3

Thank you for your support of the retraction letter to the BMJ. Can you please respond with
any post-graduate degrees you may have? We would like to ensure that we correctly credit all
the signatories.
Best,
Angela
Angela Amico, MPH
Project Coordinator
Health Promotion Policy & Biotechnology
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1220 L Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20005
Direct: 202-777-8307
aamico@cspinet.org
From: Jayne Woodside [mailto:j.woodside@qub.ac.uk]
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2015 2:52 AM
To: Bonnie Liebman <bliebman@cspinet.org>
Subject: Fwd: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3
Dear Bonnie,
I have read the full version of the attached letter and I agree to include my sign on it.
I endorse its full content and the request to the BMJ to retract the journalist's article.
Best wishes,
Jayne

Professor Jayne Woodside

Nutrition and Metabolism Group
Centre for Public Health
First Floor
Institute of Clinical Science B
Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
UK
Tel: 0044 2890 632585
Fax: 0044 2890 235900

From: Angeliki Papadaki [mailto:Angeliki.Papadaki@bristol.ac.uk]

Sent: 01 November 2015 12:48
To: Arne Astrup; Saris, Wim; Inge Huybrechts; manios@hua.gr; Inga rsdttir; Andy Ness;
susan.jebb@phc.ox.ac.uk; Agneta Yngve; Sibylle Kranz; lmoreno@unizar.es;
clare.collins@newcastle.edu.au; Antonis Kafatos; Jayne Woodside; Janet Cade; Dianne Ward
Subject: Fwd: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3

Dear colleagues,
Please see attached a suggestion for a BMJ retraction letter, instigated by Frank Hu at
Harvard. We were asked to circulate the letter for signatures.
If you agree, please send an email to Bonnie Liebman (bliebman@cspinet.org) with a similar
content to the below, in blue font, and circulate to your colleagues.

I have read the full version of the attached letter and I

agree to include my sign on it.
I endorse its full content and the request to the BMJ to
retract the journalist's article.
Kind regards,
Angeliki

---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Miguel ngel Martnez Gonzlez <mamartinez@unav.es>

Date: 1 November 2015 at 11:36
Subject: Fwd: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3
To: Antonia Trichopoulou <atrichopoulou@hhf-greece.gr>, denis.lairon@univmed.fr, Katia
Esposito <katherine.esposito@unina2.it>, giuseppe.grosso@studium.unict.it, Federico Jose
Armando Perez Cueto Eulert <apce@plan.aau.dk>, "ligia.dominguez"
<ligia.dominguez@unipa.it>, Matthias Schulze <mschulze@dife.de>, Iris Shai
<irish@bgu.ac.il>, elliotb@ekmd.huji.ac.il, dario.giugliano@unina2.it, Angeliki Papadaki
<Angeliki.Papadaki@bristol.ac.uk>, Arne Astrup <ast@nexs.ku.dk>,
ricardo.uauy@lshtm.ac.uk, jose luchsinger <luchsin@hotmail.com>, Nikolaos Scarmeas
<ns257@cumc.columbia.edu>, Christian Carpn <Christian.Carpene@inserm.fr>, Olle
Melander <olle.melander@med.lu.se>, boeing@dife.de, Marc Molendijk
<m.l.molendijk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl>, Adriano Maral Pimenta
<adrianompimenta@yahoo.com.br>, Helfimed Study UniSA
<Dorota.Zarnowiecki@unisa.edu.au>
Cc: Frank Hu <nhbfh@channing.harvard.edu>

Yes, of course, Frank.

I have read the full version of the attached letter and I

agree to include my sign on it.
I endorse its full content and the request to the BMJ to
retract the journalist's article.
I'm forwarding to my friends and colleagues this invitation to sign the attached
letter:
Dear colleagues,
if you agree, you can send an email to Bonnie Liebman <bliebman@cspinet.org>
with a similar content to what I have written above in blue font.

I would thank you all very much if you are so kind as to ask
also to your friends from different European countries to sign
the attached letter for the sake of science and public health.
Best regards,
miguel
-Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez
University of Navarra-CIBEROBN
www.unav.es/preventiva
www.proyectosun.es
www.predimed.es
www.predimedplus.com
www.ciberobn.es
Research Gate

On Sun, Nov 1, 2015 at 1:28 AM, Frank Hu <nhbfh@channing.harvard.edu> wrote:

Hi Miguel,
Would you like to sign the attached letter to retract the BMJ article? if so, please email
Bonnie Liebman <bliebman@cspinet.org>.
I would greatly appreciate if you can ask your colleagues in Spain and other European
countries to sign the letter. I think it is extremely important to retract the terrible BMJ article
for the sake of science and public health.
Many thanks
frank

---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Bonnie Liebman <bliebman@cspinet.org>

Date: Sat, Oct 31, 2015 at 2:36 PM
Subject: Letter to BMJ re Dietary Guidelines--Please respond by Nov. 3
To: Bonnie Liebman <bliebman@cspinet.org>
Dear Colleague:
On Sept. 24, the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) published an investigation entitled,
The Scientific Report Guiding the US Dietary Guidelines: Is it Scientific? The article (attached) was
written by Nina Teicholz, a journalist and author of The Big Fat Surprise Why Butter, Meat, &
Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.
The article is riddled with errors. For example, Teicholz claims that the report of the 2015 Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee used weak scientific standards because it relied on fewer reviews
by USDAs Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL) than the 2010 DGAC committee and instead conducted
ad hoc examinations of the scientific literature.
In fact, there were no ad hoc examinations. The appendices to the 2015 DGAC report specify the
search strategy, inclusion criteria, search results, and AMSTAR ratings for the systematic reviews,
meta-analyses, and other studies used by the DGAC. The attached letter documents ten additional
factual errors in the article.
(Note: The BMJ article was timed to coincide with an October 7 hearing of the House Agriculture
Committee, where it was used to criticize the 2015 DGACs scientific integrity.)
The attached letter urges the BMJ to retract the investigation. Please let us know by Tuesday,
November 3, if you would like to co-sign the letter. (Please also feel free to pass it on to your
colleagues.)
Thanks,
Bonnie Liebman

_______________________________
Bonnie F. Liebman, MS
Director of Nutrition
Center for Science in the Public Interest
1220 L St., NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: (202) 777-8335
Fax: (202) 265-4954
-*******************************************************
Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD
9

Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
665 Huntington ave, Boston, MA 02115
tel: 617 432 0113 fax: 617 432 2435
<http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/frank-hu/>
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/frank-hu/
******************************************************
-Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez
University of Navarra
www.unav.es/preventiva
www.proyectosun.es
www.predimed.es
www.predimedplus.com
www.ciberobn.es
Research Gate
-Angeliki Papadaki, PhD, MSc (Med Sci), FHEA
Lecturer in Public Health Nutrition
Programme Director, MSc Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health
Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences
School for Policy Studies
University of Bristol
8 Priory Rd
Bristol BS8 1TZ
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 117 3310453
Fax: +44 (0) 117 3310418
Office: Room 2G1, 12 Woodland Rd, BS8 1UQ
Personal webpage: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/people/angelikipapadaki/overview.html
Twitter: @AngelikPapadaki
Our unique MSc in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health is recruiting now for
September 2016 intake.

10