Described as a "shadowy industry group" and "the most powerful food industry group you've never heard of" in a New York Times exposé, ILSI has peddled junk science and political influence for corporate benefactors like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Dupont, Nestlé, and Bayer-Monsanto for over four decades.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ILSI boasts 14 affiliated chapters -- there were 16 before we published our exposé -- across the world dedicated to creating a favorable regulatory environment for some of the world's biggest polluters, public health offenders, and labor rights abusers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2020-2025 dietary guidelines--the official guidance on what who lives in the US, from schoolchildren to seniors, should eat and drink--will be based on the recommendations of a panel where more than half of the members have ties to ILSI including its chair and vice-chair.

Coca-Cola leaving ILSI is an important milestone in the campaign to expose the underhanded tactics corporations have used to cripple progress on commonsense nutrition policy across the globe. ILSI was founded by a former Coca-Cola executive Alex Malaspina and has deep ties to Big Food and Soda. So the loss of Coca-Cola as a member shows that ILSI continues to be exposed and isolated for its problematic activities.

Coca-Cola's decision follows other major corporations, like Mars, Inc. and Nestlé, cutting ties with ILSI in recent years. But there are still massive and powerful corporations like PepsiCo, Cargill, Kellogg's and others supporting ILSI.