PCRM Files Suit Over Dairy Weight-Loss Claims

PCRM Files Suit Over Dairy Weight-Loss Claims

WASHINGTONThe PhysiciansCommittee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed two lawsuits against dairyindustry trade groups and international food corporations to end amultimilliondollar advertising campaign claiming dairy products facilitateweight loss.

In a release, PCRM said it is taking the International DairyFoods Association, the National Dairy Council, and Dairy Management Inc., aswell as Kraft Foods, General Mills and Dannon to task for making scientificallyunsubstantiated claims about dairy products and weight loss founded on twostudies led by Michael Zemel, Ph.D., a researcher based at the University ofTennessee. PCRM said it filed the suits on behalf of a Virginia woman who gainedweight while following recommendations contained in a series of advertisementsthat claimed dairy take promoted weight-loss. The lawsuits, filed in AlexandriaCircuit Court in Virginia, include a suit seeking monetary damages and aclassaction suit seeking injunctive relief.

To stem declining sales and boost their bottom line, thedairy industry is duping overweight Americans into believing that milk and otherdairy are the magic bullet to weight control, said Dan Kinburn, senior legalcounsel for PCRM, in a statement. We are serving notice with these lawsuitsthat we will not continue to let these false health claims go unchallenged.