Financial support: This trial was funded by the American Beverage Association. The American Beverage Association was not involved in the design, conduct, analysis of data or interpretation of this trial; a representative from the American Beverage Association was provided with the opportunity to review the manuscript. Final decisions regarding the content were made by the authors. The manuscript was developed with the assistance of a medical writer, funded by the American Beverage Association, under the direction of the authors. A third-party organisation (Biofortis) audited data at the clinical site to check for the accuracy and integrity of the data.

Competing interests: Joanne A. Harrold reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, she reports a grant from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET. Scott Hill reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Cristina Radu reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study and funding from Coca Cola for a PhD studentship outside of the submitted work. Paul Thomas reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Paula Thorp reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Charlotte A. Hardman reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, she reports honoraria from the International Sweeteners Association, International Food Information Council and Mars Global Nutrition Advisory Council (paid to the University of Liverpool); grants from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET, the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council (paid to the University of Liverpool); primary supervisor on a PhD studentship funded by Coca Cola (awarded to CR); personal fees for her role on the Food Standards Agency Advisory Committee on Social Sciences and an unpaid role as a trustee of Feeding Liverpool. Paul Christiansen reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, he reports grants from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Home Office UK and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and personal fees from Kaplan and Crohn’s and Colitis UK.

Una Masic reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Lauren McGale reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, she reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the WHO, and funding (paid to the University of Wollongong) from the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care. Daniel J. Cuthbertson reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, he reports funding from Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca for investigator-initiated research and consultancy (paid to the University of Liverpool) and educational grants from Perspectum. Jason C.G. Halford reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, he reports a grant from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET; consultancy fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Dupont and Mars (all paid to the University of Leeds); honoraria from Novo Nordisk (paid to the University of Leeds); support for attending meetings from Novo Nordisk; financial support for participation in an advisory board for Dupont (paid to the University of Leeds); unpaid participation in an advisory board for the Sweet Tooth Project and unpaid board membership of the European Coalition of People Living with Obesity. He is treasurer of the World Obesity Federation.

Comment

This is an industry study through and through.  I consider it marketing, not science.