NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday 17 April 2001
CONTACT:
Simon Chaitowitz, Communications Director
tel: 202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org
New Conflicts Revealed in USDA Dairy Promotion
PCRM Calls for Impartial Investigation of Milk-Mustache Petition; FTC Refuses
Washington, D.C.—Government
officials selected for investigating charges of misleading advertising in the
milk-mustache campaign are the same officials who administer the dairy promotion, reveals
the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in a letter recently sent to the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
PCRM called for the investigation last July when it filed a petition with the
FTC detailing the many false health claims made by the federally run "milk
mustache"/"got milk?" campaign. Unfortunately, the FTC referred the case to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for investigation.
"It's a classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse," says PCRM attorney
Mindy Kursban, referring to Ken Clayton, associate administrator of the USDA's
Agricultural Marketing Service, and Richard McKee, deputy administrator of Dairy Programs.
"No wonder the FTC hasn't suspended these deceptive ads yet. Those in charge of
investigating our charges are the very same people who work with the dairy industry to
implement the milk-mustache campaign."
Given such an inherent conflict of
interest, PCRM asked the FTC to pull responsibility for the investigation
from the USDA and appoint an independent scientific panel. The FTC
refused. Although the USDA says it has assigned a panel of experts
to review PCRM's petition, it refuses to make those names public.
"With its long history of pandering to the meat and dairy industries,
the USDA is unlikely to come up with anything close to an impartial
scientific review," says PCRM president Neal
Barnard, M.D.
PCRM argues that many of the milk-mustache ads, including ones featuring Elton John,
Marc Anthony, and Britney Spears, violate federal law by misleading the public with false
health claims. Some of the ads, for example, make health claims for heart-clogging,
high-fat products. Others claim that milk prevents osteoporosis, despite studies such as
the Harvard Nurses' Health Study which showed just the contrary. What's more, all ads fail
to disclose even one of the many health problems associated with dairy consumption.
Studies link dairy consumption with higher rates of many diseases, including prostate
cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
The dairy industry spends approximately $180 million per year on its milk-mustache/got
milk? campaign.
A nonprofit healthcare advocacy group, PCRM has been educating the public about the
risks of dairy consumption since 1985. PCRM is comprised of 5,000 physicians and supported
by more than 100,000 laymembers.
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