Doctors Group Files Complaint Against Milk Mustache Ad Claims;
Spike Lee, Conan O'Brien, Whoopi Goldberg, Larry King Ads Faulted
Contact: Michael J. Murphy of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 202-686-2210, ext. 309
WASHINGTON, June 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Doctors and dietitians from the Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission challenging health claims in the "Milk Mustache" advertising campaign, as revealed on ABC's World News Tonight on May 31.
The advertisements feature Spike Lee, Larry King, Vanessa Williams, and other celebrities bearing the white mustache, several implying that drinking milk can lower the risk of osteoporosis, prevent high blood pressure, and improve sports performance. The ads are sponsored by the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.
The federal government permits health claims about calcium-rich foods, but only for certain population groups. Scientific studies provide no evidence of benefit from increased calcium intake for African Americans, males, or older women. However, an ad featuring African American model Tyra Banks suggests that drinking milk can help prevent osteoporosis in males, and, by implication, African Americans. Ads featuring Conan O'Brien, Spike Lee, and Whoopi Goldberg also appear to go beyond permitted health claims.
PCRM President Neal D. Barnard, M.D., says, "The public has no idea that African Americans have been excluded from nearly every research study because of better bone density. It is scientifically indefensible for milk ads to then suggest that African Americans benefit from drinking milk. The same is true for males as a group and for older women."
Patricia Bertron, R.D., director of nutrition at PCRM agrees. "For those who are at risk for osteoporosis, it is important to recognize that bone loss cannot be prevented nor cured by simply drinking a glass of milk. I believe the ads grossly oversimplify the disease."
The doctors group also pointed out that the dairy ads fail to note that exercise and reducing the intake of sodium and animal protein are important for reducing calcium losses.
Studies in older women also raise grave doubts about milk's effects on bones. A 1997 Harvard study of more than 75,000 nurses followed for 12 years found that those who got more calcium from milk actually broke more bones than those who got less calcium in their diets.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit organization founded in 1985 and based in Washington, D.C., promotes preventive medicine and higher standards in research.
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