Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Got Milk PMS commercials – the murky truth

"Got Milk" is the name of an advertising campaign referred to as a 'milk consumption campaign'. It is sponsored by the milk industry. Got Milk came out of the Californian Milk Process Board in 1993. It was created to increase milk consumption in the region and has now grown into an international programme.

In March 2004 the Got Milk campaign was launched in the United Kingdom. In the UK like the US, milk consumption has suffered at the hands of the increase in soda drinks. The move into the UK and other countries is an attempt to reverse the process.

Typically, the ‘got milk’ ads show celebrities with a "milk moustache" and exhort you to drink milk to ensure good health. With promises of strong bones, lower blood pressure, and better sports performance, these milk moustache ads are everywhere, providing millions of people with what unfortunately has become a primary source of nutrition information.

But instead of helping, these ads are confusing and miss-educating consumers according to the PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, USA).

Some Got Milk commercials make reference to PMS in women, implying that the consumption of dairy milk is somehow helpful in alleviating Pre-Menstrual Symptoms. This is, of course, complete nonsense. If anything, dairy milk makes you feel bloated and less healthy and can therefore aggravate PMS.

The Got Milk PMS commercials were prompted by a study carried out by Dr. Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson of the University of Massachusetts and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. This study showed a "significantly lower risk of developing PMS in women with intakes of vitamin D and calcium from food sources.”

But it does not follow that dairy milk is a good source of vitamin D and calcium. On the contrary, milk is a bad source of these nutrients, and there is no research showing that milk alleviates PMS.

Most of the milk moustache ads that make health claims are false and misleading, and in violation of federal advertising guidelines, according to a PCRM petition filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in July 2000.

In its petition, PCRM requested an investigation of milk moustache ads, holding them to be scientifically unsubstantiated, purposefully deceptive, and harmful advertising. PCRM's petition has been referred by the FTC to the USDA for investigation because—believe it or not—it is actually the USDA that is promulgating these ads on behalf of the private dairy industry.

To find out more about this subject please go to Got Milk PMS Commercials. Here you will also discover a sensational report showing that organic dairy milk is much worse for health compared to regular pasteurized milk. Also check out http://www.about-milk.info/ for other fascinating facts.