Health experts defend milk

Dairy Foods, Nov, 1992 by Jerry Dryer

"There's no reason to drink cow's milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves; it was not designed for humans and we should all stop drinking it today, this afternoon."

That's how animal rights activist Frank Oski launched an all out attack on milk at a media event in Baltimore several weeks ago.

Oski, director of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, was joined by Dr. Neil Bernard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and Dr. Benjamin Spock, author of Baby and Child Care. PCRM fired off a handful of charges against milk:

* Milk has been implicated as a trigger for insulin-dependant diabetes.

* Milk can cause blood loss from the intestinal track, depleting the body of iron.

* Milk causes allergies.

* Milk is a common cause of digestive problems (lactose intolerance).

* One-third of the milk on the retail shelf contains antibiotics.

Initial print media coverage following the media conference was relatively balanced. Print journalists contacted the diary industry--namely the National Dairy Council and National Dairy Board--for their responses before publishing PCRM's charges.

Unfortunately, many broadcast media proved susceptible to PCRM's food terrorist tactics, resulting in sensationalized local and national television coverage. Within 24 hours, though, the tables began to turn.

Greg Miller, a Ph.D. nutritionist with the National Dairy Council, and Dr. Janet Williams, registered dietician with the National Dairy Board, were featured on a number of broadcast outlets the following day. Miller also was quoted extensively in the print media.

In a prepared statement, the American Medical Association (AMA) discredited PCRM by noting that less than 0.005 percent of U.S. physicians belong to PCRM. Instead of speaking for doctors, PCRM "supports and speaks for the terrorist organization called the Animal Liberation Front," according to AMA. AMA also challenged specific PCRM medical and nutritional claims, as did a host of other medical, nutritional and consumer organizations and individuals. Among them:

* American Academy of Pediatrics,

* American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Nutrition,

* American Dietetics Association,

* Center for Science in the Public Interest,

* U.S. Food and Drug Administration,

* Dr. Hans-Michael Dosch, the researcher who produced the diabetes study published earlier this year, and

* National Osteoporosis Foundation.

The group's name--Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine--and some very gullible reporters, made it very difficult for the industry to defend itself. Fortunately, a number of truly responsible organizations came to the industry's defense and refuted all of PCRM's claims. The dairy industry owes them a debt of gratitude.

It appears that Oski and members of PCRM used Dr. Spock and misconstrued his ideas to their advantage. But in the end, it was Dr. Spock himself who clinched dairy industry efforts to reverse PCRM's charges by recanting. In a follow-up interview, CBS Morning News' Harry Smith asked Dr. Spock: "Are you and others saying kids should not drink dairy milk?"

Spock replied, "No, that's much too broad. What we were calling attention to |at the PCRM event~ is the value of breast-feeding," Spock replied. "Hundreds of millions of American children in the past century have been drinking cow's milk without trouble ... we're lucky to have cow's milk," he added.

And the dairy foods business is fortunate to have respectable health and medical organizations that appreciate milk's contributions to a healthful American diet.

A number of truly responsible organizations refuted PCRM's claims:

* Studies cited by PCRM linking milk to childhood diabetes and allergies are not conclusive, nor are they widely accepted.

* Truly responsible physicians and the dairy industry have long recommended human milk and formula for children 12 months of age and younger.

* Lactose intolerance is a challenge the industry has successfully dealt with by making a host of lactose-reduced dairy beverages available to consumers.

* A U.S. Food and Drug Administration official quickly countered the antibiotics charge with hard facts.

Dryer is president of the Jerry Dryer Group, a food consulting and forecasting company headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., and a market analyst with the Dairy Foods Market Group. He welcomes your comments and questions. 1-800-243-7037.