It's taken a decade to get from starting point A back to
starting point A. Our legs have been moving, but the scenery has not changed
much. Perhaps we've even jogged backwards.
It's been ten years since I testified before USDA's Dietary Guideline Committee.
In yesterday's Notmilk letter, I included excerpts from the testimony of 26
individuals represent various groups. See:
http://health. groups.yahoo. com/group/ notmilk/message/ 3543
MY TESTIMONY TO THE UNITED STATED DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DIETARY GUIDELINES
COMMITTEE 3/10/2000
(Under-secretary Eileen Kennedy had instructed each speaker to state his/her
name, organization, and
source of funding---I had three minutes to speak,
and had no prepared statement):
Our next presenter is Mr. Robert Cohen.
MR. COHEN: Thank you. I'm Robert Cohen. I'm
with the Dairy Education Board.
We have a shoestring budget, and I pay for the
shoestrings.
I'd like to ask you, since this is the first
time I've ever been asked who funds me, who
funds you, Dr. Kennedy? Who funds you, Dr.
Watkins and Lurie and Huberto Garza who's
listening on the telephone?
Dr. Kennedy, you said that this is an open
and transparent process. Americans know how
transparent it is.
Ms. Lurie, you said there's a history of
collaboration.
Dr. Watkins, you travel America speaking to
trade organizations. It's on the internet.
Native American, you go to South Dakota and
North Dakota to Indian Reservations and tell
them how they need more milk and cheese and
you're going to give it to them.
This is a transparent process.
We know, Dr. Kennedy, that you're on the
Board of Directors of a research organization
funded by Dannon Yogurt.
We know Huberto Garza, that you get $500,000
a year from USDA as a line item. At Cornell
University you work for the Dairy Council.
And Joanna Dwyer who worked on this food
dietary guideline committee worked for the
dairy industry as did Rachel Johnson and
Roland Weinster and Richard Deckelbaum and it
goes on and on, Scott Grundy. All connections
to the dairy industry. What's going on here?
The first part, I want to tell you that we're
not pleased about these conflicts of interest.
I sat with the Vice President of the United
States yesterday and with Senator Barbara Boxer,
and we're all not pleased about these conflicts
of interest.
Can't you come up with a committee that doesn't
have these conflicts?
Milk. Eighty percent of milk protein is a
substance called casein, C-A-S-E-I-N. That's
the glue they use to hold together the wood in
this podium. You eat casein you produce histamines
you make mucous. We've got soaring rates of
asthma and diabetes, breast cancer.
The New York Times last week had a full page
article in their science section that breast
cancer rates in women are soaring. Thousands
of things cause breast cancer. The key factor
in its growth, the only hormone in nature
exactly alike between two species, IGF-1 human
and cow, has been identified as the key factor
in breast cancer.
We've got our children in the schools. You
talk about cholesterol and animal fats. You
know they're dangerous. You take the combined
intake of dietary cholesterol from cheese,
milk, butter, ice cream, for the average
American is equal to the same amount of
cholesterol contained in 53 slices of bacon.
That's today's intake. That's, 19,345 slices
a year. By age 52 the same cholesterol in a
million slices of bacon.
You've got to examine, you've got a hearing,
an obesity hearing coming up in America and
you've got to examine the 29.2 ounces a day
or 666 pounds per American of milk and dairy
products that we're eating and how intolerant
that is, especially to African Americans.
Robert Cade, University of Florida, attributed
one natural hormone in milk - casomorphine as
the reason for attention deficit disorder and
autism. One out of three kids in our Washington
schools are on ritalin.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
DEPUTY UNDERSECRETARY KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
And the one question you directed to us, I will
answer. We are funded by the American taxpayer.
Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk. com
