FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday 17 December 2001

CONTACT: Simon Chaitowitz, Communications Director
tel: 202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org

FOIA Documents Reveal Dairy Industry's Ad Agency Behind
Upcoming Calcium Summit

Washington, D.C.—Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal that a supposed health conference about calcium scheduled for 17 January 2002 in Washington, D.C., is actually an industry promotion being orchestrated by BSMG Worldwide, the ad agency behind the $180-million-a-year "milk-mustache" campaign.

The pseudo-scientific "Calcium Summit" is being sponsored by the National Dairy Council and the Milk Processor Education Program, as part of their ongoing effort to boost sagging milk sales. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is making the documents obtained through its FOIA request available beginning today.

The documents reveal:

• The ad agency has given marching orders to many of the speakers, outlining proposed speeches.
• Conference organizers are planning elaborate security measures in case any participants disagree about the nutritional benefits of milk.
• At least one proposed participant, Jeffrey Koplan, M.D., M.P.H., director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declined to promote the event because a government ethics code prohibits "endorsing any product, service or enterprise."
• Conference organizers planned to exclude members of the American Dietetic Association known to look favorably on a vegetarian diet from the invitation list.

"Calcium Summit II is clearly an industry promotion disguised as a health conference," says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "Summit organizers say they're bringing together health professionals to look at what they claim is a calcium deficiency in youth, but studies show that increasing calcium intake does not increase bone strength. All the dairy industry really wants to do is sell more milk."

"A more useful public health initiative would be to address calcium loss," adds Dr. Barnard. "Most Americans don't realize that animal protein, salt, smoking, and inactivity all encourage bones to excrete calcium. That's why government recommendations for calcium are set so unnaturally high. Moreover, few people realize that calcium-rich plant foods like dark leafy greens and fortified juices are actually far healthier calcium sources than milk."

For more information about the controversy over dairy products, as well as interviews with PCRM nutrition experts, contact PCRM communications director Simon Chaitowitz at 202-686-2210, ext. 309, or simonc@pcrm.org.

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Following are excerpts from FOIA documents received by PCRM:

Below is an e-mail message from the assistant of Dr. Jeffery Koplan, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services. She is explaining that Dr. Koplan does not wish to be quoted in the Calcium Summit II materials as he is prohibited from "endorsing any product" based on Standards of Ethical Conduct for federal employees.

This excerpt is from a memorandum from BSMG Worldwide (the advertising agency hired by the National Dairy Council to advertise and promote drinking milk) dated August 3, 2001. It summarizes the items discussed in the Calcium Summit II Planning Call held on July 26, 2001. The following bulleted points fall under the heading of "Miscellaneous Items":

The document indicates that, while the American Dietetic Association (ADA) has signed onto the Calcium Summit II goals statement, certain members of the ADA who may not agree with the National Dairy Council's agenda are specifically not invited to attend this "scientific meeting."

Following is a series of excerpts from a seven-page memo outlining BSMG's and the National Dairy Council's "Calcium Summit II – Revised Issues Plan" for dealing with "special interest groups" and other "unwelcome guests."

In general, the plan is four-fold:

1. To limit registration, as much as possible through a variety of means, to those known to agree with the Calcium Summit II's mission of promoting drinking milk in American youth (with the exception of competing industries and CSPI, see below)

2. To alert local police and "soft-dressed" security officers, as well as to appoint an "Issues SWAT Team" to escort out on-site protestors (included were a series of possible scenarios and response—see "Scenario #3" below)

3. To be prepared with pro-milk media messages (see "C. Media Coverage" below)

4. To hold "dress rehearsals" for staff and media training for speakers, facilitators, moderators, and Calcium Summit II spokespersons.

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