Science Makes the Case for Whole Milk, Teicholz Says

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’s Bjerga on Milk’s Value for Everyone

NMPF Executive Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the plethora of low- and no-lactose dairy products available to meet America’s nutritional needs in an interview with Dairy Radio Now. With societal concerns about equitable nutrition access informing conversations over the upcoming Dietary Guidelines, dairy needs to make it clear that it’s a nutrition solution for all, Bjerga says.

Milk Serves Americans Well, Lipps Says

The federal government is seeking comments related to the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as it reviews the science behind healthy eating, with a plan expected next year. Dairy has always had a central role in proper nutrition, and newer science reinforces that. That doesn’t mean the process is easy, two experts said in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

“One of the biggest distinguishing factors in this year’s advisory committee is a focus on using a health equity lens to ensure that the committee considers factors such as socioeconomic position, food security, race, and, or ethnicity and culture,” said Brandon Lipps, who during his time as USDA deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, oversaw the writing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services. “With products like milk that have so many available nutrients, we can serve Americans so well. And we need to make sure that the committee thinks about the basics when they’re talking about that.”

Lipps, co-founder of Caprock Strategies, was joined by NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman in the podcast. You can find and subscribe to the Dairy Defined podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

Media outlets may use clips from the podcast on the condition of attribution to the National Milk Producers Federation.


Congress can stand up for dairy’s nutrition

By Paul Bleiberg, Executive Vice President, Government Relations, National Milk Producers Federation

Milk and dairy products supply 13 essential nutrients, including three that continue to be identified as nutrients of public health concern: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services have historically recognized dairy’s important value in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are updated once every five years and are due next year. The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines should continue to maintain dairy as a distinct food group, one that does not include plant-based imitation products that are not nutritionally equivalent to real milk and do not deliver dairy’s unique nutrient package.

But before the new guidelines are completed, Congress has the opportunity this year to highlight dairy as a nutrition powerhouse that cannot be easily replicated. Below the radar of a tumultuous presidential election year, the bipartisan DAIRY PRIDE Act, introduced in both houses of Congress, has steadily picked up additional support, with nearly 50 members now cosponsoring the House measure.

The DAIRY PRIDE Act directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce dairy standards of identity, which are rooted in dairy’s critical nutrient profile and the fact that milk is the product of an animal that can’t be replicated by substitute ingredients or concocted in a lab. Standards of identity were developed to promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers. These terms, including “milk” and “cheese,” have come to carry distinct meaning in the minds of consumers, with built-in expectations for nutritional values.

FDA’s continued failure to require the proper labeling of plant-based alternative products is a public health problem, plain and simple. When consumers make misguided, but well-intentioned, decisions to purchase imitation products in place of real dairy, the result will be more and more Americans not meeting the recommended intake of dairy outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Multiple public health organizations have given voice to this concern, urging that young children not be fed most plant-based alternatives in place of real dairy as their nutrition profiles are largely not equivalent.

After years of anticipation, FDA issued proposed guidance last year intended to address this topic. But while the agency acknowledged the nutritional inferiority of most plant-based imitation products relative to real dairy, FDA still made no attempt to dissuade the makers of these products from labeling them using dairy terms – the true cause of consumer confusion.

The DAIRY PRIDE Act would fix this by deeming mislabeled dairy imitators as misbranded. It then would require FDA to promptly require the proper labeling of alternative products – without the unfettered use of dairy terms. This pro-public health, truth-in-labeling bill would spotlight dairy as a unique source of essential, underconsumed nutrients and can swiftly pass Congress before year’s end.


This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Aug. 15, 2024.

NMPF Touts Dairy’s Importance in Dietary Guidelines Comments

NMPF underscored dairy’s important role in American diets in comments submitted July 26 to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). Milk supplies 13 essential nutrients and dairy is a good or excellent source of nutrients that continue to be identified as nutrients of public health concern—calcium, vitamin D and potassium.

NMPF stated in its comments that dairy should remain a distinct food group, with at least three servings recommended for older children and adults, and corresponding amounts for younger children in the next Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). NMPF also argued against suggestions that plant-based alternatives be included as allowable substitutes for dairy beyond fortified soy, noting that little to no science supports the nutritional equivalence of plant-based alternatives.

“Dairy foods have been well-studied over decades, and the evidence for the benefits of the dairy food matrix, including nutrient bioavailability and impacts on health outcomes, is well-established,” the comments state. “We are aware of few if any studies that have similarly tracked and identified health outcomes for highly-processed plant-based dairy alternatives. These products vary tremendously in their nutrient content, and in contrast to dairy foods, FDA has not established Standards of Identity for any of the alternatives, so there is no requirement that they meet any particular nutrient content.”

NMPF also encourages the DGAC to review the growing body of science that shows dairy foods have beneficial or neutral effects on chronic disease risk at all fat levels.  “The scientific evidence supports removing low-fat and fat-free limitations on dairy recommendations, although consumers should certainly be able to choose these varieties if they enjoy them or they need to limit caloric intake,” NMPF said.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans has significant impacts on nutrition in the United States because it forms the basis of federal nutrition policy and programs; it also helps guide health promotion and disease prevention initiatives at the federal, state and local levels. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is expected to release its scientific report with recommendations to USDA and HHS for updating the DGA in the fall.