OTTAWA—National animal law organization Animal Justice has filed a false advertising complaint with federal regulators over Dairy Farmers of Canada ads that falsely claim dairy is required to prevent osteoporosis, colorectal cancer, and hypertension, when research shows dairy is not a necessary part of the human diet and may even be harmful.
The ad campaign is running on transit vehicles and stations across Canada. The ads are disguised as public health announcements from trusted Canadian health authorities, including the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Osteoporosis Canada and Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, to which Dairy Farmers of Canada is a major donor. It is not evident that the ads are funded by a marketing organization with a mandate to sell dairy; in fact, the Dairy Farmers boasts an annual marketing budget of $80 million.
According to Dietitians of Canada, it is not necessary to consume fluid cow’s milk, yogurt, or cheese to avoid colorectal cancer, osteoporosis, or heart disease. On the contrary, Dietitians of Canada states that a vegan diet, which excludes dairy, “has many health benefits including lower rates of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.”
Dr. Walter Willet, Chair of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, observes that high dairy intake is not beneficial and may even be harmful. According to Dr. Willet, high dairy consumption is associated with increased risk of prostate and ovarian cancer.
“The Dairy Farmers of Canada has very effectively spent decades convincing Canadians that they need to drink the breast milk of another species,” said lawyer Anna Pippus, director of farmed animal advocacy for Animal Justice. “In fact, adult humans have no nutritional need to consume cow’s milk. This latest ad campaign is brazenly disguised as public health announcements from trusted health authorities. Moreover, it’s ethnocentric and racially exclusive to position consuming cow’s milk as a normal and natural food for humans when more than 90 percent of some non-European communities can’t even digest it. Cow’s milk is intended for baby cows. These predatory ads violate federal laws that prohibit false advertising.”
According to international market research company BBC Research, the global market for dairy alternatives is exploding, having reached $5.8 billion in 2014 and expected to rise at a rate of 13.3 percent annually to $10.9 billion by 2019.
– 30 –
To read the complaint, please click here.
For high-resolution versions of the ads, please see the following links:
Stroke
Heart health
Colorectal cancer
Osteoperosis
For more information, contact:
Anna Pippus
Director of Farmed Animal Advocacy
[email protected]
