Originally published October 4 2005
Dairy interests disagree with food profiling system
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Britain's Food Standards Administration has implemented a system for evaluating the health benefits of food, and its ranking of certain milk brands alongside diet soft drinks has caused Dairy UK to publicly question the value system proposed by the FSA.
The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) profiling proposal, developed at the end of July, used zero as a benchmark, with positive scores indicating unhealthy products and minus scores pointing to healthier options.
Dairy UK said it had serious concerns about the FSA's plans, which say whole, semi-skimmed and flavoured milk have the same health value as diet fizzy drinks.
"We question the omission of micronutrients such as protein quality, minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium, as well as vitamins A and B," said Ed Komorowski, Dairy UK's technical director, as part of an FSA consultation period that ended this week.
The calcium content of milk, however, is widely accepted as good for womens' bones -- helping to protect against osteoporosis.
A report from the National Consumer Council said that one of the authors involved in the nutrition proposals "expressed his disappointment that there was insufficient time to discuss the basis of the model (per 100g, per 100kJ or per serving), and told the participants that this would need to be explored in more depth to move the model forward".
Yet, one other slightly puzzling result was the FSA's assertion that olive oil was less healthy than a range of potato crisps, chocolate biscuits and cakes.
Olive oil received a score of 20, despite a number of studies showing that a so-called Mediterranean diet, with a high ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids (mostly olive oil) to polyunsaturated fatty acids, has a protective effect on the heart.
Dairy UK's Komorowski said the current profiling scheme meant that breast milk would fall into the category 'high in saturated fat, salt or sugar'.
"We question the scientific basis of a model which results in breast milk being classified as unsuitable for children," he said, adding that the positioning of cheese as similarly unsuitable raised "serious doubts".
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml