| |
|
         |
 |
 PCRM Takes the Dairy
Industry In March 2001, PCRM submitted two more petitions with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking the agency to investigate and suspend the dairy industry's latest promotional campaign. The dairy industry, with the imprimatur of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers a milk promotion program called "MilkPEP," launched an ad campaign to push people with hypertension to drink more milk supposedly as a way of reducing their high blood pressure. Hypertension, also known as "the silent killer," affects 50 million American adults and is especially prevalent among African Americans and elderly individuals. In the absence of appropriate treatment, hypertension is a major contributor to fatal heart disease and stroke. One ad claims "Dairy Makes the Difference in DASH." This is a reference to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) multicenter study funded by the federal National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. The DASH study did not conclude that dairy product consumption is responsible for a reduction in blood pressure. In fact, its design did not even isolate dairy products for examination. The DASH investigators, in presenting the study's results, specifically rejected the suggestion that the blood pressure-lowering effect of the diet was attributable to the nutrients in low-fat dairy products, saying that "the DASH trial was not designed to identify the specific nutrients and foods responsible for the observed reductions in blood pressure. Inferences about the effects of specific nutrients and foods are speculative." Further, in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied a dairy industry petition—which relied heavily on the DASH study—requesting approval to make the health claim that low-fat dairy products protect against hypertension. The other advertisement in question is a promotional brochure also falsely touting the results of the DASH study in an attempt to encourage people with hypertension to drink cow's milk. These ads are part of a fallacious and dangerous campaign to induce hypertensive people to consume dairy products with the expectation that it will lead to a meaningful reduction in blood pressure. The assertion that dairy products can cause a clinically important reduction in blood pressure is erroneous and poses the danger that affected individuals may be less likely to seek effective treatment. Of heightened concern with both of these promotions is that they are being circulated in nutrition journals, including the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and the Journal of the American College on Nutrition, and distributed at nutritional conferences. Targeting nutritionists and dietitians with a false depiction of the results of the DASH study is particularly egregious since these professionals have been entrusted by their patients to recommend appropriate and effective dietary measures of treating this very serious condition. If PCRM's petition is successful, the dairy/hypertension ad campaign will be terminated.
For more information on this issue and others relating to false and misleading advertising by the dairy industry, please visit:
|
||