Dairy Products

WASHINGTON -- Meat and dairy products should be dropped from the "basic four food groups" taught to American schoolchildren since 1956, a physicians organization urged yesterday.Instead of the traditional dietary groupings of meat, dairy products, grains and fruits/vegetables, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine proposed a "new four food groups" of grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits."The meat and dairy groups were the principal sources of cholesterol and saturated fat, which are the biggest culprits in raising blood cholesterol.

A frequent bugaboo of the fiscal cliff debacle was the "milk cliff" - the threat of milk price doubling if Congress failed to extend dairy subsidies. Parents were expected to forgo other necessities because their children "had to have milk. " Most industries would gladly give up their tax loopholes for that kind of product loyalty. But this one is totally undeserved. Consumption of dairy products, laden with saturated fats, cholesterol, hormones, and drugs, elevates the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Q: As more and more medical research points to meat and dairy products as key factors in the diseases that are killing us, how can any reasonable scientist continue to advocate eating these foods?A. At issue is not the meat and dairy but the fat they contain. Medical research points to the over-consumption of fat as the key dietary risk factor for heart disease and certain cancers. Reports often single out meat and dairy foods because they often are high in fat.There's no question that in this country, we overemphasize meat and dairy.

Regarding the June 14, letter commenting on New York's proposed ban on sodas ("New York Mayor Bloomberg's ban on sodas should be backed") my interest soon changed to destain when the author listed "public subsidies" a culprit to the obesity epidemic, jumping from sugary drinks to tobacco, meat and dairy and corn. More than 90 percent of agriculture subsidies go to five crops - wheat corn, soybeans, rice and cotton. Another source says the U.S. government heavily subsidizes grains, oilseeds, cotton, sugar and dairy products.

Jeff Semmont is nostalgic for a time he has never experienced. The 32-year-old from Ellicott City thinks fondly of times when residents could leave their homes and cars unlocked, and daydreams about a drive-in movie theater and restaurant where teens can hang out. So it is no wonder that when Semmont sold his dry-cleaning delivery business, he settled into a job that harks back to days gone by. Dressed in a starched white uniform, driving a refrigerated truck...

Jeff Semmont is nostalgic for a time he has never experienced. The 32-year-old from Ellicott City thinks fondly of times when residents could leave their homes and cars unlocked, and daydreams about a drive-in movie theater and restaurant where teens could hang out. So it is no wonder that when Semmont sold his dry-cleaning delivery business, he settled into a job that harks backs to days gone by. Dressed in a starched white uniform, driving a refrigerated...

A frequent bugaboo of the fiscal cliff debacle was the "milk cliff" - the threat of milk price doubling if Congress failed to extend dairy subsidies. Parents were expected to forgo other necessities because their children "had to have milk. " Most industries would gladly give up their tax loopholes for that kind of product loyalty. But this one is totally undeserved. Consumption of dairy products, laden with saturated fats, cholesterol, hormones, and drugs, elevates the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

The number of Americans considered obese is expected to rise from the current 34 percent to 42 percent by the year 2030, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and discussed at Monday's "Weight of the Nation" conference in Washington. Diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, and other obesity-related ailments account for countless premature deaths and as much as 18 percent of the $2.6 trillion national cost of medical care. The leading causes of obesity are consumption of fat-laden meat and dairy products and lack of exercise.

Two Maryland-based dairy companies, whose future had been in question because their owner wanted out of the business, have found a buyer with expansion plans in mind.High's Dairies Inc., a Laurel company doing business as East Coast Ice Cream, and Embassy Dairy Inc., based in Waldorf, were acquired by the Protein Group, a Stamford, Conn.-based ** distributor of dairy products, the Protein Group said Tuesday.The two companies had been owned by the Morningstar Group Inc. of Dallas, a food-products company.

A coalition of doctors concerned about racial bias is mounting an attack on a national dietary institution: the food pyramid, which calls for a balanced diet of dairy and meat, vegetables and breads.The Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) argues that because most members of minority groups can't easily digest milk, the continued inclusion of dairy products as a dietary staple is wrongheaded. They will recommend that the guidelines list dairy as an option and suggest calcium-rich alternatives to milk and cheese.

New York CityMayor Bloomberg's decision to ban super-sized sugary sodas has resurrected the age-old debate over the role of the state in protecting the public health. In recent years, this debate involved bicycle helmets, car seat belts, tobacco, trans fats, saturated fats in meat and dairy products and sugar (or more aptly, high-fructose corn syrup). Public subsidies for tobacco, meat and dairy and corn production added fuel to the debate. I would argue that society has a right to regulate activities that impose a heavy burden on the public treasury.

The number of Americans considered obese is expected to rise from the current 34 percent to 42 percent by the year 2030, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and discussed at Monday's "Weight of the Nation" conference in Washington. Diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, and other obesity-related ailments account for countless premature deaths and as much as 18 percent of the $2.6 trillion national cost of medical care. The leading causes of obesity are consumption of fat-laden meat and dairy products and lack of exercise.

You think you're all set for Passover -- but maybe you forgot about your pet? You do not have to remove your cat or dog's food and dish bowl as you begin prepping for Passover this week if you switch to Evanger's kosher dog and cat food . Established in 1935, Evanger's Dog and Cat Food Company is endorsed by the Chicago Rabbinical Council and offers highly-inspected kosher certified products. By not mixing meat with dairy products and offering chometz-free (grain free) food, Evanger's allows your dog or cat to eat with the family during Passover.

By the time you read this, Bobby Prigel, the only organic dairy farmer in Baltimore County, should have a few thousand more bucks to help catch up on his legal bills. His friends and neighbors - at least the farm-friendly neighbors who think that a dairy farmer ought to be able to sell his cows' milk on his own farm - will have thrown a party to defray some of the $130,000 Mr. Prigel has had to spend to get his Long Green Valley creamery open. Other neighbors have not been so generous; they've tried to grind Mr. Prigel down and stop him from processing his milk in the big, barn-style building across the road from where his cows graze.

Suicide bomb detonates during U.S. raid in Iraq BAGHDAD: Eleven Iraqis, several women and children, were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber set off explosives during a raid by U.S. forces on a house in Mosul, the U.S. military said. A military statement said the bomb detonated as U.S. forces exchanged gunfire with suspected insurgents and stormed a building in search of a wanted man. The military said it was unclear whether those who died, all believed to have been from one family, were killed by the explosion or by gunfire.

Anyone who travels through Baltimore County's Long Green Valley on a regular basis has to stop now and then so that Bobby Prigel's cows can cross the road. Prigel is a dairy farmer who produces milk the old-fashioned way, moving his herd from pasture to pasture, on both sides of Long Green Road, letting the cows actually walk and chew grass at the same time. Prigel's fourth-generation family farm, Bellevale, is the only organic dairy farm in the county. Unfortunately, you can't buy Prigel's milk.

Milk: Does it do the body good? The answer, according to a paper published in this month's Pediatrics journal, is no - at least if you are talking about bone growth in children. Reviewing 58 published studies on the relationship between calcium intake and bone health, researchers associated with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine - an animal rights group based in Washington, D.C. - asked whether there was any scientific evidence to justify federal recommendations on calcium intake and whether dairy products are the best sources of calcium for kids.

You think you're all set for Passover -- but maybe you forgot about your pet? You do not have to remove your cat or dog's food and dish bowl as you begin prepping for Passover this week if you switch to Evanger's kosher dog and cat food . Established in 1935, Evanger's Dog and Cat Food Company is endorsed by the Chicago Rabbinical Council and offers highly-inspected kosher certified products. By not mixing meat with dairy products and offering chometz-free (grain free) food, Evanger's allows your dog or cat to eat with the family during Passover.

Maryland agriculture officials will be watching Pennsylvania in coming weeks to see whether some of the recent steps taken to preserve the dairy industry there could help farmers here. Last month, Pennsylvania teamed with New York and Vermont in search of ways to boost the profit of dairy farms, increase their share of the U.S. milk market and reverse the trend of farms going out of business. The collaboration comes on the heels of Pennsylvania's implementation of a program to pay farmers in the northeastern part of the state a bonus for increasing their annual milk production.

You know it like the Pledge of Allegiance: "Milk helps build strong teeth and bones." But does it really? Or, as nutrition researchers from Harvard and Cornell universities are radically suggesting: Have we all been duped by the dairy industry's slick, celebrity-driven "Got milk?" advertising campaign? Milk, the sacred cow of the American diet, is under attack and not just by animal-rights activists. Though federal dietary guidelines and most mainstream nutrition experts recommend that people age 9 and older drink three glasses of milk a day, researchers are examining the role of dairy in everything from rising osteoporosis rates, Type 1 diabetes and heart disease to breast, prostate and ovarian cancer.