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Petition Urging the Department of Agriculture
To Stop Promoting Obesity
Through Checkoff Programs

Submitted by
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
5100 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20016

Dated: June 17, 2004

QUESTION

Why is the Department of Agriculture, the agency entrusted with developing nutritional standards to stem the tide of obesity, pushing children to eat cookies?

ANSWER

To increase the profits of the dairy industry.

From July 2003 to January 2004, the Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) partnered with Nabisco to administer the “Dunk and Win” cookie promotion as part of its dairy checkoff program.¹ This promotion, which was touted by Dairy Management Inc. (“DMI”),² as the “the most successful retail milk promotion ever conducted by the national dairy checkoff,” centered on a sweepstakes that awarded $1 million to the holder of a “special Oreo cookie” that, when dunked in milk, turned the milk blue.³

Also pushing Nabisco’s Chips Ahoy! cookies, this cookie/milk promotion featured more than 15,000 in-store Nabisco cookie displays and more than 10 million Oreo cookie packages and 15 million Chips Ahoy! cookie packages with the “got milk?®” logo and other milk-friendly graphics.

The most outrageous aspect of this disturbing promotion was that it intentionally targeted children by airing commercials on Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network.
This cookie/milk promotion is only the latest example in a long history of USDA partnerships with commercial vendors through its various checkoff programs (e.g., beef, pork, and dairy) to push unhealthy foods on American consumers. To wit:

Pork Checkoff⁴

• USDA partnered with McDonald’s to develop and promote the McRib.⁵ One McRib has 490 calories, 25 grams of fat (38% daily value based on a 2,000 calorie diet (“DV”)), 8 of them saturated (42% DV), 75 mg of cholesterol (24% DV), and 1030 mg of sodium (43% DV).⁶
• USDA partnered with Subway to develop and promote the BBQ Rib Patty Sub.⁷ A 12-inch sub has 840 calories, 38 grams of fat (58% DV), 14 grams of them saturated (70% DV), 100 mg of cholesterol (33% DV) and 1,640 mg of sodium (68% DV).⁸

Beef Checkoff⁹

• USDA partnered with Dunkin’ Donuts to develop and promote the Steak, Egg & Cheese Sandwich.¹⁰ One Steak, Egg & Cheese Sandwich has 640 calories, 26 grams of fat (40% DV), 12 of them saturated (60% DV), and 205 mg of cholesterol (68% DV).¹¹
• Through both the beef and dairy checkoffs, USDA partnered with Taco Bell to develop and promote the Steak Quesadilla, which uses an average of eight times more cheese than any other item on their menu.¹² One Steak Quesadilla has 540 calories, 31 grams of fat (48% DV), 14 of them saturated (70% DV), 70 mg of cholesterol (23% DV), and 1370 mg of sodium (57% DV).¹³

Dairy checkoff

• USDA partnered with Pizza Hut to develop and promote the Ultimate Cheese Pizza.¹⁴ Pizza Hut’s Web site does not include nutritional information for this pizza, but documents obtained by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine under the Freedom of Information Act state that this pizza features six different types of cheese with 50 percent more cheese than the average pizza.
• USDA partnered with Wendy’s to develop and promote the Cheddar Lovers’ Bacon Cheeseburger.¹⁵ One Cheddar Lovers’ Bacon Cheeseburger has 690 calories, 40 grams of fat (60% DV), 14 of them saturated (63% DV), and 130 mg of cholesterol (43% DV).¹⁶

In addition to partnering with large vendors of unhealthy food products, USDA also uses the checkoff programs for the general promotion of unhealthy food choices. For instance, working with DMI, USDA promotes cheese through its “Ahh, the power of Cheese,” campaign. This promotion does not limit its recommendations to consumption of low-fat cheese, despite the fact that most cheeses get 70 to 80 percent of their calories from fat and about half their calories from saturated fat. The government has even acknowledged that cheese has addictive qualities. Rather than educate consumers to reduce or eliminate this unhealthy item from their diets, USDA instead embarked on efforts “aimed at triggering cheese lovers’ craving for cheese.” ¹⁷

USDA also promotes the consumption of butter, despite the fact that butter provides only unnecessary calories (all of them from fat, most of which is saturated) and salt, and targets mothers and children to drink chocolate and strawberry flavored milks, which have more calories, fat, and sugar than soda.

While one arm of USDA is peddling junk food and over-consumption, the rest of the Department gives lip service to Americans with the claims that it really is trying to address obesity and poor health. For example, on Oct. 15, 2002, the Agriculture Secretary, along with the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Secretary, met with the National Restaurant Association and the National Council of Chain Restaurants to discuss how the food and beverage industries can help Americans combat obesity.¹⁸ On March 11, 2004, at the USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum 2004, Agriculture Secretary Veneman declared that USDA is joining “the Battle of the Bulge” to help Americans enjoy a healthier and less fattening food supply.¹⁹ And the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee—appointed by the USDA and HHS—has been meeting to discuss, in part, how the federal government’s nutritional policies can help reduce the rate of obesity in this country. The revised Dietary Guidelines will be released in 2005, and a new Food Guide Pyramid will be released shortly thereafter.²⁰

In contrast, many other federal government offices are engaged in efforts to address the obesity epidemic. For example, in 2002, the Surgeon General released A Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, announcing that approximately 14 percent of children and adolescents are overweight and 64 percent of adults are overweight. It was further noted that this prevalence has tripled in adolescents over the past 20 years and that the economic costs of obesity are second only to the cost of tobacco use, with the annual cost of obesity estimated at up to $117 billion in direct and indirect costs.

More recently, on March 2, 2004, the Surgeon General testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on “The Growing Epidemic of Childhood Obesity.” In his testimony, the Surgeon General stated that “The science is conclusive: by taking a few simple steps in our personal lives we can greatly improve our health and our nation’s health” and implored Congress to “work with the President, the Secretary [of HHS], and me, as well as every mom and dad in America, to promote healthy living, improve health literacy, and encourage healthier lifestyles so that we can end our nation’s obesity problem before it has a chance to reach into another generation of Americans. Working together, industry, government, and individuals can achieve these goals.” ²¹

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that the obesity epidemic is worsening rather than improving.²² In June 2002, President Bush launched the HealthierUS initiative to help Americans take steps to improve their personal health and fitness by encouraging children and adults to be physically active every day, eat a nutritious diet, get preventive screenings, and make healthy choices.²³ In support of the President’s initiative, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson launched an initiative called Steps to a Healthier US, a program that focuses attention on the importance of prevention.²⁴ HHS is also partnering with private-sector groups for targeted prevention-related initiatives and is developing a national plan on diabetes research, detection, prevention, and treatment.

In 2003, the National Institutes of Health Director established the NIH Obesity Research Task Force to develop a strategic plan for obesity research²⁵ and the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner formed an Obesity Working Group to address the obesity problem.²⁶

The USDA’s use of checkoff programs to persuade consumers to make unhealthy food choices is an egregious abuse of the public trust. Although there are many factors contributing to America’s obesity epidemic, one solution is obvious. The government must immediately stop promoting bad eating habits. Accordingly, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine urges USDA to stop using the agricultural promotion programs to encourage obesity and poor health.

This includes the following:

1. The immediate termination of the current dairy checkoff/Nabisco promotion awarding $100,000 to the consumer whose specially embossed Oreo cookies spell M_I_L_K²⁷ and the cancellation of the planned August 2004 back-to-school milk promotion that will include Oreo cookies marked with the “got milk?®” logo.
2. The termination of all commercial partnerships to promote any branded product, or alternatively, to promote any product that is an unhealthy food choices, e.g., those high in saturated fat, cholesterol, or sugar.
3. To the extent that USDA is statutorily required to engage in promotional campaigns (many of which, in and of themselves, promote unhealthy food choices), USDA commit only to authorizing those promotions that do not encourage unduly unhealthy food choices, e.g., limited in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugar.
4. That USDA not embark on any other campaign that would sabotage efforts to promote good health and good eating habits.

Footnotes
1. The dairy checkoff is a marketing program in effect since 1984 to increase the consumption of dairy products and reduce surpluses by, inter alia, touting the purported benefits of dairy products. It is funded by a mandatory assessment (i.e., tax) on dairy producers. It is administered by USDA and managed by the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (“Dairy Board”), which is comprised of dairy farmers who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture.
2. DMI was created in March 1994 by the Dairy Board to manage Dairy Board programs as well as those of the American Dairy Association and National Dairy Council (the nutrition marketing arm of DMI). On behalf of USDA and the dairy industry, DMI engages in advertising, school marketing, nutrition and product research, product publicity, retail promotion activities, and media communications, among other things.
3. http://www.dairyherd.com/news_editorial.asp?pgID=675&ed_id=3502, accessed June 3, 2004.
4. The pork checkoff program is a marketing program in effect since 1987 to increase the consumption of pork through promotional and informational campaigns, nutrition research, and new product development. It is funded by a mandatory assessment (i.e., tax) on hog producers. The pork checkoff is administered by USDA and managed by the National Pork Producers Delegate Body (“Pork Board”), which is comprised of hog farmers appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The checkoff is responsible for the “Pork. The Other White Meat” campaign.
5. http://www.porkboard.org/docs/03072003porkleader.pdf, accessed June 15, 2004.
6. http://164.109.33.187/app_controller.nutrition.item.10031, accessed June 3, 2004.
7. http://www.porkboard.org/publications/pubText.asp?id=116, accessed June 15, 2004.
8. http://www.fatcalories.com/sr_compare.cfm, accessed June 10, 2004.
9. The beef checkoff program is a marketing program in effect since 1986 to increase the consumption of beef and beef products through promotion and advertising plans, research projects, consumer information, and industry information. It is funded by a mandatory assessment (i.e., tax) on cattle farmers. The beef checkoff is administered by USDA and managed by the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board (“Beef Board”), which is comprised of cattle producers and importers appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. As a result of the beef checkoff program, more than 50 new beef products and concepts have been brought to the market. The checkoff is responsible for the “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner” campaign.
10. http://www.beefboard.org/dsp/dsp_content.cfm?locationId=1071&contentTypeId=2&contentId=1493, accessed June 15, 2004.
11. This information is not available on Dunkin’ Donuts’ Web site, but was obtained via telephone from Dunkin’ Donuts’ customer service on June 10, 2004.
12. Report to Congress on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Program and the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Program - July 1, 2003, at http://www.ams.usda.gov/dairy/prb/rtc_2003/chapter_1.pdf, accessed June 10, 2004.
13. http://www.tacobell.com, accessed June 3, 2004.
14. Report to Congress, supra, footnote 12.
15. Id.
16. This information is not available on Wendy’s Web site, but was obtained via telephone from Wendy’s customer service on June 3, 2004.
17. Report to Congress, supra, footnote 12.
18. http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2002/10/hhs.htm, accessed June 15, 2004.
19. http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=398976&extID=10032&oliI
20. D=213, accessed June 15, 2004.
21. Even Congress is aware that USDA sabotages efforts to address obesity. In June 2004, the Healthy Lifestyles Act of 2004 (S. 2399) was introduced. This legislation would replace the USDA with the National Academies of Science as the author of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans “in order to remove politics and special interests from national nutrition advice.” See http://www.illinoisagconnection.com/story-state.cfm?Id=388&yr=2004, accessed June 9, 2004.
22. http://www.os.dhhs.gov/asl/testify/t040302.html, accessed June 14, 2004.
23. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity, accessed June 15, 2004.
24. http://www.healthierus.gov, accessed June 14, 2004.
25. http://www.healthierus.gov/steps, accessed June 14, 2004.
26. http://www.obesityresearch.nih.gov/about/about.htm#taskforce, accessed June 14, 2004.
27. http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/104_fat.html, accessed June 14, 2004.This promotion’s other components include: “got milk?®” logos on Oreo cookie product packages, in-store displays that contain the “got milk?®” logo and milk splash graphics, coupon offers to save on the purchase of milk when purchased along with Nabisco cookies, and television ads targeting adults and children.

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