14: STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

"Politics make strange bedfellows."

--CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER, My Summer in a Garden. Ch 15. (1871).

Being against cow's milk is un-American--a view inspired by the advertising practices of the American dairy industry. It has taken generations to perpetrate this philosophy so today, millions of mothers repeat the holy slogan, "Hurry up and finish your milk!"

The famous slogans and jingles of the dairy industry resound in our ears like echoes of motherhood: "Milk is Natural," "Milk is the Perfect Food," "Everybody Needs Milk," "Milk Drinkers Make Better Lovers."

Milk advertising is the epitome of promotional success. Today, one of every five dollars spent for food goes for the purchase of dairy products, making it the second largest expense after meats and poultry products. We consume on the average, 350 pounds of dairy products every year, so the dairy industry is a big business supporting more than 20 percent of our Congress for re-election. Armed with millions of dollars for promotion and favor-buying, the American dairy industry carries a solid political punch.

However, the activities of this industry have not gone unnoticed by the Federal Trade Commission, many health experts and, recently, several prominent political leaders. In April 1974, the Federal Trade Commission issued a "proposed complaint" against the California Milk Producers Advisory Board and their advertising agency citing the slogan "Everybody Needs Milk" as representing false, misleading, and deceptive advertising. The FTC judged that the testimonies by celebrities such as Mark Spitz, Vida Blue, Ray Bolger, Abigail Van Buren and Florence Henderson conveyed an inaccurate picture of the food value of milk.

The smart dairymen quickly changed their slogan to: Milk Has Something for Everybody. In rebuttal, Dr. Frank O. Oski asks in his book, "Don't Drink Your Milk," "Do you really want that something?" Perhaps diarrhea, iron deficiency anemia, or even a heart attack. In February, 1987, the American Dairy Association kicked off a new promotional campaign, "The Natural Kick," which featured many beautiful bodies toying with milk to show that indeed cow's milk is naturally required by humans. Rhetoric and jargon analysis aside, drinking milk is not a natural kick. If anything, it will makes us kick the bucket sooner.

So successful has been the milk industry campaign that at one time it had even the federal government fooled into helping them sell milk. For example, a pamphlet put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the mid '70s titled "Milk in Family Meals" starts with the statement, "Milk is a basic food that everyone in the family needs every day." Looking at a glass of milk it is hard to appreciate the forces which bring it to our table. The story begins with cows and farmers but then enter the other players: milk cooperatives, self imposed taxes on milk, big bank accounts, money used to buy advertising, special congressional favors and stabilization of milk pricing. And of course, a most elaborate system to discredit reports on ill effects of milk. The American Dairy Nutrition Council is responsible for countering any claims made against milk. It keeps a very close watch on anything written about milk around the world and is often very quick in responding to any adverse publicity. The milk lobby discourages the use of milk substitutes. Often using the same criticism labeled upon them, they criticize milk substitute manufacturers for commercial exploitation. There is no doubt that producers of milk substitutes have economic interest vested in the demise of cow's milk. Exploitation is the hallmark of the dairy industry. Milk producers were first to exploit the mammalian mother--the cow. The cow was there before Mead JohnsonR or Ralston PurinaR.

The question whether adults should use cow's milk or milk substitutes will continue to rage but it is settled when it comes to infant nutrition. Ideally, infants should be breast-fed for one year and then gradually weaned. If during this time the mother is unable to nurse, formula should be used but no child should be exposed to the hazards of cow's milk at any age. Formulas help protect the health of infants, sparing them crude, contaminated, raw milk from the cow. Current studies also indicate that, contrary to what critics of formulas say, mothers do not give up breast-feeding just because formulas are available.Formulas are, however, not hazard-free, especially in the Third World countries. It has become trendy in the developing countries to switch to bottle-feeding. In societies where children are generally malnourished, pictures of plump babies from West using formula stimulate an immediate maternal response, whether they can afford it or not. Even if they can, the procedures for mixing and storing often make the use of formula hazardous. In 1973, in Chile, a sharp increase in the deaths of bottle-fed infants was attributed to improper preparation of formulas.

Mike Muller's book, "The Baby Killer," the report by Consumers Union and many other reports from not-for-profit organizations have chided the manufacturers of commercial formulas for exploiting the poor and illiterate.

A common practice by formula manufacturers is to supply their products to hospitals at below cost or free in order to stimulate future business. If it was good enough for use in the hospital it must be good at home, reasons the new mother. Although breast-feeding purists cry foul there is absolutely nothing unethical about promoting business fairly. Are the advertising practices of the American dairy industry fair? It is not possible for us to protect ourselves from the assaults of advertising, good or bad. Americans are number one in the world when it comes to exposure to advertising. What we need in this country is a force to neutralize the media hype. We need education, mainly for young mothers--a task, which even the most ardent "issue raisers" fail to grant priorty to.It is not fair to make infant formula manufacturers the scapegoat. They have done better by us than dairymen. Both of these industries have sufficient financial resources to make milk, its products, and substitutes safer for use by humans. There is a need to remind them that they are responsible for future generations of humanity. And no chief executive officer or chairman of the board can be callous enough to put the short-term economic goals above the health of future Americans. Or atleast that's a Platonic assumption.Other reasons, besides health hazards, why we should stay away from dairy products are purely humanitarian. Today, the production of dairy products clearly exceeds demand all over the Western World. In many Western countries dairy products worth billions go to waste every year. While a good part of the world population is severely malnourished and starving, the Western world is feeding lavishly, four times as many animal mounths as are needed, only to accumulate dairy products as a waste. And then there is an issue whether calves have any emotions. Separating a cow from her newborn calf is no different from separating an infant from new mother. However, we fail to see the emotional trauma of calves and cows. Leaving them together will do us good. Perhaps the hazards in cow's milk are a curse that we deserve for our injustice to cows and calves.This book should not be construed by the dairy industry as an attack of their livelihood. Extra care was taken not to "dramatize" the issues and there is no need for the Dairy Nutrition Council to lash out against this book. Consumer education is the only reason this book was written. The dairy industry will soon know that it must do something now to improve the quality of milk. And here are some suggestions, or at least food for thought:

. Develop separation techniques to remove chemical contaminants from milk;

. Study effect of protein denaturation on their sensitivity and nutritional effects;

. Develop easy tests for lactose intolerance;

. Educate public about the allergic and intolerance symptoms and suggest means to avoiding them;

. Discourage use of whole fat milk in adults;

. Resolve the xanthine oxidase and pasteurization controversy;

. Develop innovative milk substitutes such as those containing fish or other plant fats, alternative sources of proteins. There is a dire need to find a successor to soya;

. Improve monitoring system for quality of milk;

. Better monitor use of forbidden drugs in cattle.

The formula and milk-substitute industry would fare better if they identify and add many ingredients found in human milk but missing in formulas.

These are just some of the recommendations that I have for the industry. No lame excuse can be given for not following up on these essential development for if they do not, the consumers, as they become better educated, will force it upon them sooner or later.In the meantime, stay away from that glass of milk.