Tag: dairy nutrition

Want to Influence Nutrition? Just Do It, Twigge Says

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

Life as an influencer means entering free-wheeling debate with perspectives from all sides. But to advance better nutrition with ample servings of dairy, it’s necessary to do, says social media personality Lauren Twigge.

Twigge, a registered dietician and nutritionist with a degree in animal science, offers “Nutrition at Its Roots,” an online and social media platform she uses to advance the message of dairy’s benefits and high-quality nourishment. Her work has been featured in Prevention, Health, Shape, Good Housekeeping, and other media outlets helping to demystify nutrition and offer sound guidance for families and individuals navigating an often-confusing nutrition landscape.

Anyone seeking a bigger online presence should just get out there and engage, she said. “For farmers or health professionals like me that want to share facts, start putting the content out there. Your themes, your trends, your approach will come as you go, because you’re going to start to get people asking you questions.” And while sometimes the interactions aren’t the most pleasant, in the end it’s worthwhile, she said.

“You’ve got so many great farmers online that are sharing their stories, showing days in their life, and I think that it really helps put a face to the industry, and that’s what consumers need to see,” she said. “My big piece of advice would be, start the content, post the content, share your story, talk about your family, talk about the industry, and talk about why you love it. Connect people with your passion. And that is content that people resonate with, and content that people resonate with is content that people remember and learn from.”

To hear more Dairy Defined podcasts, you can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

School Meals Are Missing Whole Milk

Posted on by Jessi-Ryah Cordova

The National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs play an important role in promoting the consumption of healthy foods, including dairy. But school meal rules in effect since 2012 only allow 1% and fat-free milk options. NMPF’s Miquela Hanselman says the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act currently before Congress would give kids even more choices for the nutrition they need.

Federal Regulations Evolving Fast

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

The regulatory climate in Washington is shifting in unprecedented ways, requiring quick responses and an eye for opportunities, NMPF regulation experts said in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

The pace of evolution is “Intense, insane,” said Clay Detlefsen, NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Regulatory and Environmental Affairs. “It changes daily. It’s full of unknowns, and it’s moving forward at an absolutely crazy pace. We don’t know what to expect tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, but things are indeed happening.”

Joining Detlefsen to discuss what dairy farmers, processors and consumers should anticipate, from milk labeling to MAHA, are Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF’s Chief Science Officer, and Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman.

To hear more Dairy Defined podcasts, you can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

U.S. and Indonesia Sign Landmark Dairy Agreement to Boost Nutrition, Trade and Industry Collaboration

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and KADIN, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today in a milestone step to deepen cooperation between U.S. and Indonesian dairy industries.

The MOU outlines a framework for collaboration to support enhanced dairy trade, strengthen commercial cooperation and bolster public nutrition through promoting greater consumption of dairy products, particularly in public programs. Key areas of collaboration include the greater integration of dairy into Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meals program, regulatory procedures including on dairy facility registration, data sharing on market trends, information exchange on best practices and technical expertise areas regarding dairy production, and joint public communication efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of dairy nutrition. The agreement also emphasizes support for school milk programs as a catalyst for child health and educational success.

“This agreement marks an exciting next chapter in U.S.–Indonesia cooperation on trade and dairy,” said Krysta Harden, USDEC president and CEO. “It builds on strong momentum from the U.S.-Indonesia Dairy Partnership Program that USDEC launched in January with U.S. and Indonesian partners in the agriculture and university sectors. It also charts a pathway for U.S. dairy suppliers to more fully complement local Indonesian milk supplies in meeting the country’s evolving nutritional needs during a critical time for U.S.-Indonesia trade relations.”

With its focus on areas of mutual collaboration and support for U.S. dairy exports to Indonesia, this agreement complements ongoing trade negotiations between Indonesia and the United States regarding fostering more reciprocal trade flows.

“The United States and Indonesia share a mission of promoting dairy as a valuable source of nutrition,” said Gregg Doud, NMPF president and CEO. “The agreement signed today commits our industries to join efforts to grow the Indonesian market and support producers in both countries.”

The MOU builds on a deepening relationship between the U.S. and Indonesian dairy industries, initially prompted by Harden’s participation as the featured industry guest on a 2023 National Association of State Department of Agriculture trade mission to Indonesia. Indonesia is the seventh -largest export market for U.S. dairy products, purchasing $245 million in 2024. With Indonesian President Prabowo’s launch of a new national school meals program that includes school milk, dairy demand in Indonesia is poised to expand significantly.

Over the past year, USDEC has led the creation of the U.S.-Indonesia Dairy Partnership Program, which held its first farmer education and training session in January in Indonesia. In collaboration with the New Mexico and Wisconsin Agriculture Departments, New Mexico State University, and Indonesian university and dairy company partners, the project is focused on the dissemination of technical educational materials designed to empower small-scale dairy producers in Indonesia to improve the quality and quantity of milk they produce. As those practices are adopted, U.S. dairy supplies play a vital complementary role to meet Indonesia’s growing dairy needs.

Dairy Community Responds to Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF submitted comments to USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services Feb. 10 to reiterate dairy’s importance as the departments begin writing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. NMPF also encouraged its members to share their voices by participating in NMPF’s advocacy campaign Jan. 16 through Feb. 10.

The comments and advocacy campaign were the final opportunity to highlight dairy’s key role in American diets until after the next guidelines are drafted. This round of comments also gave the public an opportunity to respond to the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which was published Dec. 10. The advisory committee reviewing what Americans should be eating spent two years evaluating scientific evidence and considering stakeholder input.

The final report reflects a great deal of hard work by NMPF’s members and allies to maintain dairy foods’ central role in American diets and maintains the prominent role of dairy foods in a healthy diet, including recommending three servings daily, a big win for the dairy community. The review also made clear that expanding the dairy food group to include additional plant-based alternative beverages (outside of fortified soy beverage, which is already included) is not supported by scientific evidence.

NMPF had hammered the point that imitators do not offer the same consistent package of nutrition provided by real milk. The committee agreed, which is especially important to the school lunch program, as the dietary guidelines affect the food options available to children through school meals and other nutrition programs.

NMPF expressed disappointment that the committee only recommends consumption of unflavored milk, especially as it acknowledged that flavored milk contains beneficial nutrients, and the committee did not explicitly conclude any connection between flavored milk consumption and obesity risk. And while the committee found evidence that substituting higher-fat dairy for lower-fat dairy showed no association with cardiovascular disease morbidity, the committee still only recommends consumption of low-fat and non-fat dairy products.

NMPF will continue to urge the departments to look more fully at recent science supporting the benefits of full-fat dairy in the diet as they develop the final guidelines.

Science Makes the Case for Whole Milk, Teicholz Says

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

You don’t have to be part of the dairy sector to see how important whole milk is for children, best-selling author Nina Teicholz, Ph.D., said in the latest Dairy Defined Podcast.

That’s because nutrition science makes a compelling case for full-fat milk, underscoring the importance of getting whole milk back in schools, the goal of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, she said.

Children who drink whole milk tend to be healthier, she said. “You need the fat in the milk to digest the vitamins that are in the milk, those are fat soluble vitamins. “I’m not a dairy advocate, but it turns out that the science supports the position of those of people in the industry who would prefer to see whole milk back in schools.”

Teicholz, author of “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet,” also discussed how food policy might be shaken up by Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s. confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary.

NMPF has a call to action supporting the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act for listeners who want to get involved, here. For more of the Dairy Defined podcast, you can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

NMPF Fights Back on Flawed Labeling Regulations, Prepares for Regulatory Freeze

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF filed comments with the Food and Drug Administration Jan. 17 opposing its proposed rule that would require saturated fat, sodium and added sugar to be displayed prominently on the front of packaged foods.

The proposed nutrition label, referred to as the Nutrition Info box, would complement the existing Nutrition Facts label required on most food packages. However, because the front-of-pack label would only list saturated fat, sodium and added sugar, consumers will get an incomplete picture of that food’s nutritional profile. NMPF’s comments assert that FDA should withdraw the proposal because it is unlawful and unable to withstand a First Amendment challenge.

FDA also issued its second guidance document on the labeling of plant-based foods in January. This new document deals with plant-based food alternatives to animal products, including many foods in the dairy category, as well as eggs, seafood, poultry and meat.

The guidance excludes milk, which was covered in a 2023 guidance. The new recommendations suggest manufacturers prominently display more details about the ingredients used in a product, beyond just saying they are “plant-based.” NMPF submitted comments to FDA on Jan. 15 stating that the agency should be enforcing its own standards of identity as written and follow the lawful process of the Administrative Procedures Act.

Meanwhile, President Trump on Jan. 20 issued a memorandum directing all federal agencies to freeze all new or pending federal rules until the new administration has had an opportunity to review them. Similar freezes were issued in prior administrations. The 60-day regulatory freeze will affect the two proposed rules FDA issued in January, as well as FDA’s flawed “Healthy” final rule issued in December. NMPF continues to monitor these and other regulations, preparing for multiple outcomes when the freeze lifts.

NMPF Applauds Bipartisan Effort to Expand Students’ Access to Whole Milk

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud:

“NMPF commends Representatives Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-PA, and Kim Schrier, D-WA, and Senators Roger Marshall, R-KS, Peter Welch, D-VT, Dave McCormick, R-PA, and John Fetterman, D-PA, for their leadership in boosting students’ access to crucial nutrition with their Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Just last month, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee reaffirmed that most Americans under-consume nutrient-dense dairy.  This much-needed bill lets schools offer students the healthful milk options that they are most likely to drink by permitting the serving of nutritious reduced fat and whole milk varieties, critically addressing kids’ under-consumption of milk’s essential nutrients.

“NMPF is ready to work with the bill’s bipartisan sponsors to move this commonsense, widely supported solution across the finish line this year.”

Dietary Guidelines Report Shows Encouraging Signs for Dairy

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Scientific Report released Dec. 10 reaffirmed the importance of dairy products to nutrition, a positive sign for milk producers in what may be in the final guidelines due to be released this year.

The advisory committee continued its three-servings-a-day dairy recommendation included in the current guidelines and maintained dairy as a separate food group. It also noted the importance of lactose-free dairy as an equitable nutrition solution and acknowledged the wild nutritional inconsistencies of plant-based beverages, a recognition of reality that reflects both science and consumer sentiment.

“NMPF thanks the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for recognizing dairy’s important role in a healthy diet and its continued recommendation of three servings of dairy for Americans two years and older,” NMPF President & CEO said in a statement the day of the release.

“Throughout this process, the committee looked carefully at the nutrition dairy products provide,” Doud said in the statement. “The committee’s scientific review showed that reducing or eliminating dairy from the diet leads to undernourishment in key nutrients for millions of Americans.

“The review also made clear that expanding the food group to include additional plant-based alternative beverages outside of fortified soy is not supported by scientific evidence. Specifically, the committee noted “the direct substitution of plant-based milk alternatives for cow’s milk within the patterns may introduce unintended consequences for meeting other nutrient recommendations and may vary by product selected,” he said.

Despite the good news for dairy, the guidelines still did not accept recent science showing the nutritional benefits of full-fat milk and undervalued the nutritional benefit of low-fat flavored milk to populations that otherwise not might drink milk.

“We are disappointed that the committee only recommends consumption of unflavored milk, especially as they acknowledged that flavored milk contains beneficial nutrients and did not explicitly conclude any connection between flavored milk consumption and obesity risk,” Doud said.

“It is reassuring that the committee came to multiple conclusions supporting dairy that are backed by decades of scientific evidence. We encourage the agencies to look further into recent science supporting the benefits of whole milk in the diet,” he said.

NMPF will continue to advocate for all forms of milk as the federal government crafts a final version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

NMPF Statement on Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Scientific Report

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud:

“NMPF thanks the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for recognizing dairy’s important role in a healthy diet and its continued recommendation of three servings of dairy for Americans two years and older.

“Throughout this process, the committee looked carefully at the nutrition dairy products provide. The committee’s scientific review showed that reducing or eliminating dairy from the diet leads to undernourishment in key nutrients for millions of Americans. The review also made clear that expanding the food group to include additional plant-based alternative beverages outside of fortified soy is not supported by scientific evidence. Specifically, the committee noted “the direct substitution of plant-based milk alternatives for cow’s milk within the patterns may introduce unintended consequences for meeting other nutrient recommendations and may vary by product selected.” This is especially important, as the dietary guidelines greatly affect the food options available to children through school meals and other nutrition programs.

“NMPF also thanks the committee for acknowledging that dairy is an equitable option that provides accessible and affordable sources of essential nutrients to everyone, and that lactose-free and lactose-reduced dairy foods can provide those same nutrients for people who may not be able to tolerate regular dairy.

“We are disappointed that the committee only recommends consumption of unflavored milk, especially as they acknowledged that flavored milk contains beneficial nutrients and did not explicitly conclude any connection between flavored milk consumption and obesity risk.

“It is reassuring that the committee came to multiple conclusions supporting dairy that are backed by decades of scientific evidence. We encourage the agencies to look further into recent science supporting the benefits of whole milk in the diet. The committee found evidence that substituting higher-fat dairy with lower-fat dairy showed no association with cardiovascular disease morbidity, and it also found evidence of positive benefits for growth and bone health specifically related to whole milk consumption by young children. We see these conclusions as positive steps. We will continue to advocate for consideration of full-fat dairy in the final dietary guidelines expected to be released next year.”

A Century of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

By Miquela Hanselman, Director of Regulatory Affairs, National Milk Producers Federation

For several years, raw milk advocacy has been trickling into the mainstream. From fringe blog sites to state legislatures, proponents tout alleged health benefits and downplay the risk. Even as highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in dairy cattle this year has shown the importance of pasteurizing milk for consumer safety and confidence, it has ironically drawn more attention to raw milk, which is seeing rising consumption. And with a raw milk advocate nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the issue is receiving new attention.

National dairy groups are united: Raw milk consumption poses serious potential health risks, and milk for public consumption should be pasteurized. But milk safety is a never-ending discussion, and it’s against that backdrop that a bedrock of consumer safety and industry cooperation, the Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), turns 100 years old this year.

The PMO, along with the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), is a cornerstone of the United States producing the safest, most nutritious dairy products in the world. The PMO was a game changer in reducing the risk of foodborne illness associated with dairy products, providing a model milk regulation program with uniform safety requirements that states could voluntarily adopt.

Alabama was the first state to adopt the milk ordinance in 1924, and support for the ordinance spread across the country. Today, the PMO is updated every other year through the NCIMS, which will be held next April in Minneapolis, Minn.

The biennial NCIMS event is a model for collaboration, bringing together federal public health officials, the Food and Drug Administration, state officials, and the dairy industry. It focuses on a more effective and efficient system of regulating the interstate shipment of milk products. One key issue sure to come up will be the H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle. Proposals for any issue or topic area to be considered at the conference are due in mid-January.

The National Milk Producers Federation and its members remain committed to keeping milk safe and accessible to Americans, even as food safety discussions evolve. Feel free to reach out to info@nmpf.org with any questions. And when the discussion moves to Minneapolis this spring for NCIMS, we will be prepared.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Nov. 28, 2024.

Dairy Diversity Ready to Grow

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

It might sound crazy to think that a product that’s already in 94 percent of U.S. households has room to grow, but the numbers indicate it’s true. Here’s what we’re talking about:

This comes from a study done by the International Food Information Council, supported by NMPF and the International Dairy Foods Association, on consumption habits among diverse U.S. populations. What’s striking is that, even though self-reported lactose intolerance among non-White populations runs at roughly 30 percent (according to the same study), clear majorities among Black, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander populations haven’t even tried milk that addresses that intolerance, forgoing an option that provides 13 essential nutrients. And presumably, some of those non-milk drinkers are in that 6 percent who don’t have it in their refrigerators.

(And conversely, some of that 94 percent must include lactose-intolerant consumers. Are they taking lactase pills to aid in digestion? Are other household members the milk drinkers? There’s still much to know.)

The point is this: At a time when the committee drafting recommendations for the next Dietary Guidelines for Americans is looking at nutrition science and contemplating recommendations that are appropriate to the lived experiences of a wide range of Americans, it’s important to meet people where they are. For the overwhelming majority of them, that means a place where they have milk in the fridge. Those who aren’t there are in a place where awareness of the numerous ways to benefit from dairy nutrition, regardless of lactose tolerance, isn’t what it needs to be.

That suggests a need to double down on offering dairy’s benefits in a way that’s tailored to the needs of individual communities. It means listening to communities that value dairy and wish it could be offered more readily, in more accessible forms. It means serving that 94 percent of households with milk — and using the tools available to raise that percentage. It emphatically does not mean de-emphasizing dairy as a critical nutritional option for all Americans — or even worse, suggesting it be replaced by sources that aren’t nutritionally equivalent.

NMPF has a call to action that dairy advocates can use to help get this message across. Public health, and the best public health guidance, is important to all Americans. And dairy is ready to provide high-quality nutrition that’s affordable and accessible to all.