Calcium Crisis: Fact or fiction? Questions for the dairy industry from Erik Marcus.

Debunking the Calcium Crisis: researcher and author Erik Marcus asks the National Dairy Council to answer questions regarding the so-called and self-proclaimed calcium crisis. These thought-provoking questions will make you think, particularly if they are never answered by the National Dairy Council or a dairy industry spokesman.

Calcium Crisis: Fact or Fiction?
Seven Questions the National Dairy Council Must Answer

One of the National Dairy Council's central missions these days seems to be repeating the phrase "calcium crisis" until the public gets caught up in a frenzy to consume more dairy products. Below, I offer seven questions that get to the root of the Dairy Council's "Calcium Crisis." These questions raise some serious concerns regarding milk, and I invite the Dairy Council to respond. I ask that each answer be given in a summary ranging in length from one sentence to two hundred words.

SEVEN Questions

1) If cow's milk improves bone health, how is it that the United States is a world leader in dairy consumption yet also has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis?

2) What percentage of studies related to milk and calcium are funded by the Dairy Council and other milk-industry groups? Each year, how many researchers and nutritionists receive grants from the Dairy Council and other milk industry groups?

3) Leafy greens contain no cholesterol or saturated fat, and they are loaded with beneficial phytochemicals that are absent from dairy products. There are some greens like spinach that contain oxalates that inhibit calcium absorption, but a number of other leafy greens have been proven to be better calcium sources than milk (both by weight and by calorie.) If increasing dietary calcium is a goal of the dairy council, why isn't priority given to leafy greens, especially since the calcium in leafy greens is often more plentiful and better absorbed than the calcium in dairy products?

4) During the June 1999 Calcium Summit, no representatives were present from industries or farm collectives that market leafy greens. Nor were representatives invited from other food concerns that market non-dairy calcium rich foods and supplements. Given the contribution that these products could make to calcium consumption, why weren't people connected with these industries specifically invited to the summit?

5) Why do many "Got Milk" advertisements feature celebrities of African or Asian descent, while these ads fail to mention that most adults of these ethnicities lack the enzyme to properly digest milk?

6) Why hasn't the National Dairy Council taken a stance to ensure that milk from cows treated with Monsanto's rBGH is labeled, so that consumers can choose to avoid this milk if they so desire?

7) The National Dairy Council and its associated groups consistently put out the message that milk builds strong bones and reduces osteoporosis risk. If milk can reduce the risk of osteoporosis, why has Harvard's Nurses' Health Study, which included over 57,000 women, found women who consumed the most calcium from dairy products had almost double the rate of hip fractures compared to women who got the least calcium from dairy?

Reprinted with permission from Erik Marcus.

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