Although Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, and Kellogg are no longer Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sponsors, the National Dairy Council continues to be a premier sponsor.We find the National Dairy Council’s presence problematic largely based on the fact that federal nutrition guidelines on dairy have been largely influenced by dairy industry lobbying and industry-funded research. which at often times trumped objective science.
Our interest is not to discuss dairy in a polarizing “it’s the best food on earth!” versus “it’s poison!” dichotomy that doesn’t enhance dialogue. Rather, we urge you to think about the implications of the National Dairy Council sponsoring a nutrition organization and also offering continuing education to nutrition professionals.
For context, we share this 2004 article from the Wall Street Journal that examined the decisions to increase federal recommendations from two servings of dairy a day to three.
Highlights:
- “The new advice is a major victory for the $50 billion U.S. dairy industry, which has long lobbied for increased consumption guidelines. Currently, Americans eat or drink about 1.5 servings of dairy products per day, according to the Agriculture Department. Despite the dairy industry’s iconic “Got Milk?” ad campaign, per-capita fluid milk sales have fallen nearly 3% over the past five years. The suggested boost in dairy intake could spell big profits for the industry, as federal nutrition programs such as school lunch menus are adjusted to conform.”
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“Walter Willett, a physician and chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, calls the committee report “egregious,” saying it excludes at least six major studies linking dairy consumption to prostate cancer. “There is no nutritional requirement for dairy at all,” he insists. “Huge parts of the world do not even consume dairy.” Dr. Willett has written a book supporting a drastic overhaul of the food pyramid with only one to two servings of dairy or a calcium supplement.
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“The dairy industry campaigned intensely, initially lobbying for three to four servings daily. It also launched a new “3-A-Day” ad campaign, supported by companies like Kraft Foods Inc., a major cheese and yogurt maker. Industry representative repeatedly warned of a “calcium crisis,” blaming Americans’ per-capita consumption of some 52 gallons of soft drinks annually compared with 25 gallons of milk, according to Euromonitor International Inc., a London-based market-research firm.”
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“The National Dairy Council, funded by the nation’s dairy farmers, spent $4 million to $5 million on research last year, much of it concluding that the calcium and other nutrients in vitamin-fortified milk, cheese and other milk products help keep people of all ages healthy. Nearly a third of the dairy studies cited in the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s report were written by a researcher who has received National Dairy Council funding either for immediate or past work, according to records from the organization and other funding disclosures on published papers.”
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“At least three of the 13 committee members — Connie Weaver, head of the department of foods and nutrition at Purdue University; Theresa A. Nicklas, a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine; and Penny Kris-Etherton, professor at Pennsylvania State University — have received National Dairy Council funding within the past five years. The committee assigned Dr. Weaver, who holds a doctorate in nutrition, much of the work on dairy consumption, Dr. Weaver says, adding that she drafted the majority of statements concerning dairy consumption before the full committee modified and eventually approved them.”
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“In the end, the primary rationale for the increased dairy recommendation didn’t involve calcium, according to Dr. Weaver. Rather, the committee focused on a recent report from the Institute of Medicine advocating larger amounts of potassium — 4,700 milligrams per day — in the American diet.”
If that’s the case, then higher intakes of plant-based foods — particularly vegetables, beans, legumes, and fruit — would be more appropriate. Alas, those foods have next to no lobbying power behind them.
Keep in mind that the Academy boasts that “since 2003, the National Dairy Council® and the Academy, along with other leading health care organizations, have teamed up to educate the public about the recommended three daily servings of dairy and the nutrition and health benefits of dairy foods (i.e., fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, including lactose-free dairy milk, cheese and yogurt).”
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