Cash ‘analysed’ 722 cheese portions of 30g each and found that many contained more salt than a bag of crisps. Apparently, cheese was the third biggest contributor to salt in the British diet after bread and bacon.
While I sat and fumed about the findings, Judith Bryans and her team at the UK Dairy Council did something about it, putting out a statement that pointed out that the National Diet and Nutrition Survey states that cheese accounts for no more than 4% of dietary salt intake.
“The Cash survey is mixing up the effect of cheese on health with the effect of salt on health,” said Bryans. “Cheese is a whole food with a complex nutritional make up which has not been shown to cause heart disease or stroke.”
Cash was forced to admit it was wrong and apologised.
A year ago, an activist group in New York put up a couple of billboards with photos of obese people and slogans that were anti-cheese. As Global Dairy Platform executive director Donald Moore wrote at the time, within a couple of days he was hearing from colleagues all around the world who had heard about the campaign.
The power of social media is such that messages – good and bad, true or false – can circulate at speed around the world, and on to the desktops and into the palms of thousands of people.
Dairy is now faced with challenges and criticisms from all quarters. It might be politicians and legislators, the animal rights lobby, vegetarian and vegan organisations, environmentalists and so on. The negative messages are incessant and, more often than not, are just a plain statement that implies ‘dairy is bad for you’ with no evidence, no statistics and no credible scientific research to back up the story.
At a recent conference, a speaker said it took five positive messages to counter one negative message. But we do have the positive messages.
Donald Moore said there is now an abundance of research that points to the goodness of dairy. Whether it’s about cardiovascular disease, bone health or maintaining a healthy weight, the scientific evidence supporting the inclusion of dairy foods in a healthy and balanced diet is stronger than ever, and it is growing on a regular basis.
For me, these incidents highlight the vitally important work that is carried out by the various dairy councils and similar dairy organisations, such as the Global Dairy Platform and the new European Milk Forum, around the world. But all of us in dairy should not leave it to these people alone to spread the word.
We should each play our part in getting those positive messages out there. The detractors use social media as well as the more traditional forms of communication, and so should we.
I remember 10 years or so ago, when I was editor of Milk Industry magazine, including a single-page article listing all the great ingredients that occur naturally in milk. It followed one of my all-time favourite ads (pictured) in the ‘Wake up to Milk’ campaign by The Dairy Council. Following publication, I received a telephone call from a milkman. He wanted permission to photocopy the page and distribute it to his doorstep customers. Why? Because they haven’t got a clue how good milk is, he said.
So dairy, your mission for 2013, should you choose to accept it, is to support and enhance the great work of these dairy organisations and help get those positive messages out there. Make sure people DO have a clue as to how good milk is.
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