Got milk? (Get a lawyer)
Well, it's a busy week for people who want to control our food choices and individual liberties. So, no foie gras, no long pointed knives, and now, no MILK?!?
Lawyers, masquerading as Physicians who think they know what's best for us (www.pcrm.org), want to sue the dairy industry on behalf of lactose intolerant people for deceptive advertising.
"The dairy industry’s deceptive marketing keeps the public in the dark about this common condition. It spends millions of dollars on advertising designed to give the false impression that milk is a necessary part of a healthy diet. The industry even encourages lactose-intolerant people to continue drinking milk and consuming other dairy products."
Listen, I agree that adults do not NEED milk, as it's designed to nurse a baby cow, while breast milk is designed to nurse baby humans. And it's true that many, up to 75% of us, are lactose intolerant. But come on! No one is making you drink that glass of milk, or polish off that pint of Ben and Jerry's, or add a slice of Swiss to your Ham sandwich. When are people going to realize that it's always up to us what we put in our bodies?
posted by ReMARKable Palate @ 9/18/2005 11:49:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hi Mark. I'm lactose intolerant, and the problem for me isn't so much the dairy industry advertising -- whatever. It's the covert milk products in so many processed foods. Anything with milk powder, whey, or even pure lactose will cause problems. A ridiculous number of processed foods are sweetened with lactose! Man, I miss M&Ms...
I hear you, Harlan. I have some mild issues with lactose myself, although not too severe. My main point with this is just that personal responsibility is essential in all aspects of life, and we Americans are really becoming a laughing stock around the world with our overblown litigiousness. The lengths we will go to to avoid taking responsibility for our own lives!
I'm sure you are well informed, and you read labels to be sure you can eat the product. That's as is should be. People with deadly peanut allergies are WELL aware of the need to read labels.
If we as consumers want products without any lactose or milk, we need to make it clear to manufacturers. If the free market were allowed to work, then these things would work themselves out. Unfortunately, we have such a mixed system, with government "nannies" claiming to protect us, but actually more beholden to the manufacturers.
The only ones winning here are the lawyers, who are raking it in.
I could not agree with the two of you more. I have been lactose intolerate for over 20 years. It has taken some adjusting but I know what will and will not make me sick. I agree that it is up to each indiviual to make the proper choices for themselves. Ice Cream makes me very sick, but knowing all to well how I will feel, some days I do indulge. I pay the price but I and I alone am responsible for the time I log in the bathroom because of my poor choice.
I find it a bit ironic that the address in DC to write to about Milk Makes Me Sick, has the street address of Wisconsin a milk and cheese producing state. The only thing that makes me sick are lawyers who see this as a chance to buy themselves large vacaction home in the South of France.
Yes, I did notice the ironic address. I don't think the people over at the PCRM have much of a sense of humor, though. The earnest meddlers rarely do.
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