Given the large contribution that dairy products make to saturated fat intakes, the dairy industry is under intense pressure from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to make significant reductions in saturated fat to reduce the risk of heart disease and other health problems, said Professor Adam Lock from the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University.
However, epidemiological, clinical and animal studies had repeatedly challenged this received wisdom and demonstrated that high dairy consumption had a neutral, or even cardio-protective effect on health, claimed Lock, who was speaking at a conference hosted by the Society of Dairy Technology.
“Public health policy continues to recommend a reduction in milk fat consumption, but there is little or no evidence that dairy fat has adverse effects on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Public health nutrition policy must be based on valid evidence.”
Meanwhile, trans fatty acids from dairy had also been unfairly “tarred with the same brush” as those produced industrially (by partially hydrogenating vegetable oils to make solid fats), he said. “The studies on the negative effects of trans fats were all conducted on industrially produced trans fats. But not all trans fats are equal. Trans fats in dairy products actually have a beneficial effect on improving ratios between LDL and HDL cholesterol.”
He cited five clinical studies in which subjects were fed high doses of dairy trans fats with no adverse effects on cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Bad press for cheese
Frustratingly for producers, cheese had received a particularly bad press, with many organisations including the Food Standards Agency urging consumers to reduce consumption for health reasons, despite the fact that it did not adversely affect cholesterol levels, said Anthony Ash from the faculty of life sciences at the University of Reading: “Saturated fatty acids in cheese do raise serum cholesterol levels, but they actually raise both LDL (‘bad’) and HDL (‘good’) cholesterol concomitantly.”
He added: “Cheese is one of the most nutritionally complete foods in the diet.”
Likewise, few consumers realised that, in addition to being a good source of calcium, dairy products were significant sources of other nutrients including vitamin A, vitamin B6 and B12, Riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus and iodine, said Dr Judith Bryans, director of the Dairy Council.
However, there was no guarantee that firms would be able to shout about the health benefits of dairy products given the strictures of the European health claims Regulation, she said.
Given the way that they were collated and filtered before being passed on to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for assessment, it was not surprising that so many article 13.1 health claims had failed to make the grade, added Bryans. “By the time we saw what was on EFSA’s final database, we didn’t even recognise our own claims anymore. We also submitted our claims before the assessment process was properly defined.”