It's not a conspiracy at all, it's the hidden problem in capitalism (not that I can think of a better way).

In my small businesses, all I need to do is to make enough money to pay the help and myself and keep up with inflation. Anything else is necessary.

If a corporation did that, their stock would stay level, the stockholders would jump ship, and the corporation would collapse.

The corporation needs perpetual profits, each quarter making more profit than the previous one to keep the stockholders happy.

So they will do anything to get you to buy their products, even if their product is junk food.

To be aware of this point will give you enough skepticism to analyze the test data; who sponsored it, how was it run, was it published in a respected, peer-reviewed journal, was it repeated by an independent party, etc. ???

I know that Archer-Daniels-Midland sponsored tests that manipulated statistics to indicate that eating more grains improved your heart health. The presented this to the American Heart Association along with millions of dollars per year in donations. The donations were given without strings, but the AHA knows if it wants to keep the money coming, it had better stick with those bogus tests.

Like I said, capitalism is a great system, but like any system, it has it's faults. I wish I know how to fix it, but I'm not that smart in that category.

Bob