Got The Facts on Milk? The Milk Documentary

Does milk really do a body good? Watch Got The Facts On Milk? The Milk Documentary and find out the shocking truth. The film confronts and dispels the myths propagated by the dairy industry for decades through their media campaigns and TV advertising. Experts interviewed in the film agree that the dairy industry has marketed erroneous and flawed slogans for years, that have not only been deceptive and misleading, but have been and are downright dangerous to human health.

This candid  documentary investigates how milk is produced and confronts the many publicized health benefits touted by the dairy industry. The film is a shocking expose on the truth about the dairy industry and dairy products – something the industry does not want you to know about and has worked very hard to conceal.

During a cross-country road trip finally ending at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington D.C., the producers interview everyday people from all walks of life in every state who have bought the propaganda. But the greatest value in the film, comes from interviews with many leading experts in the fields of medicine, nutrition, science, biochemistry and animal husbandry that reveal the link between dairy milk and heart disease, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, testicular cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, Bovine Leukemia (an AIDS-like virus), allergies, intestinal diseases and a host of other health disorders.

Does milk really “build strong bones, make your teeth strong, help you lose weight and do a body good?” as the slogans say? The short answer is an emphatic no! In fact, the truth is just the opposite as you will see in the film.

How is Milk Produced?

In order for a cow to give milk she has to give birth to a baby calf and that starts her lactation process. Cows must be pregnant and give birth in order to give milk. Immediately following the birth of her calf, her calf is taken away from her. Typically, most female calves become milk-replacement cows. While male calves either go straight to the slaughterhouse and are considered “waste”, or they become calves used for veal meat, or they are used as livestock and live on feedlots for beef. The mother cow is never allowed to stay with her newborn and nurse her calf, because all of her milk goes straight to humans.

Film Length: 1 Hour / 28 Minutes

Originally Produced: 2007

Watch the Full-Length Film

• Watch on FMTV (Food Matters TV)
• Watch on YouTube with Spanish subtitles
• Watch on Google Play
• Watch on iTunes
• See the Website

Statistics & Facts in the Film

• The U.S. diary industry has an annual revenue of $60 billion (Hoovers.com).

• The marketing budget for fluid milk in 2007 was $175 million (DairyCheckOff.com).

• Diseases linked through medical research to dairy milk and dairy products include: Arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, acne, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and type-2 diabetes, and infection.

• Cow’s milk is one of the most common food allergies (Allegysa.org) causing rashes, hives, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, iron-deficient anemia, wheezing, asthma, rhinitis, growth retardation, and itchy, swollen eyes (PubMed Central, Clinical Practice, August 2009).

• Insulin-Like Growth Factor – 1 (IGF-1) injected into cows has been linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer. Excess levels of Insulin-Like Growth Factor – 1 (IGF-1) have been linked to human cancer development (The Cancer Prevention Coalition).

• 75% of the world is lactose intolerant – it’s normal to be lactose intolerant (emedicine.medscape.com).

• Only humans continue to drink milk after being weaned off the breast. And humans are the only species to take and drink the milk from another animal.

• Cows often have mastitis, an infection of the utters due to being pushed to produce so much milk. Mastitis is puss cells or industry acronym SCC. There is a limit to the amount of pus or SCC (Mastitis infection amount) found in the regular milk you buy in the stores. To comply with the U.S. Federal and State Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, the SCC level must not exceed 750,000 SCC/ml. (American Dairy Science Association, 2001).

• Countries that consume little to no dairy consumption did not make it to the Top 20 Cancer List by Country (Nation Master – Health Statistics / Dairy Science & Technology).

• One glass of milk can contain 180 million white blood cells (pus cells) and still be fine for you to drink (SCC, BC Counts & Antibiotic Residue Violations – J. Dairy Science, 2002 April).

• BST is Bovine (Cow) Somatotropin, also known as rBGH or Bovine Growth Hormone. rBGH is injected into the cow to increase milk production by 10%. Europe and Canada banned rBGH to protect citizens from IGF-1 health hazards (Consumersunion.org/food/bghny899).

• The policy of the US Congress: To strengthen the dairy industry’s position in the market place (Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983).

• Monsanto increases milk production of cows with the drug Posilac. The cows make more milk, so the farmers make more money.

• Milk By-Products are milk derivatives that make a food product depend on the dairy industry. Foods that contain them include: Casein, lactic acid, caseinate, lactose, whey, OPTA, milk solids, lactoferrin, lactoglobulin, high protein flour, sodium caseinate, simplesse, and natural flavor.

• In 2000, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) put together for the Dairy Industry a program designed to trigger “cheese craving” and cheese consumption with the immense surplus of milk and the decline of milk consumption in the U.S. It’s now 30 pounds per person per year thanks to government programs. You don’t need any other explanation for why Americans are so fat these days. (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)

• From 1988 to 1993, there were over 2,700 articles published addressing milk recorded in the U.S. medicine archives. Not one of the researchers spoke of milk as an excellent or healthy food, as the dairy industry portrays it to be. Instead, intestinal bleeding, Bovine Leukemia (an AIDS-like virus), asthma, childhood diabetes, heart disease, multiple cancers, anemia, arthritis, and allergic reactions were the focus.

• Eight dairy groups reported overall lobbying spending more than five million in 2005 (Washington Post).

• Animal agriculture produces 100 million tons of methane a year (epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html).

• People consume 5x the number of animal products than they did 50 years ago.

• From 1991 – 2004, the number of dairy farms dropped 55% while the number of cows per dairy farm increased 94% (ers.usda.gov/publications/err47/err47b.pdf). Less farms, more cows).

• Methane gas is discharged from cows. The cattle industry is contributing a gas that has 23 times the power of CO2 than that from cars or all forms of transit.

Quotes from the Film

“Cheese is not a health food. 80% of it is saturated fat, it’s terrible for you.” (Amy Joy Lanou, PhD, Nutrition Researcher, University of North Carolina)

“We know that if we do the right diet (plant-based) you can actually save 85% of the illnesses in the U.S., I personally believe closer to 95% reduction in illnesses. You can cure disease this way. But are we addressing this as a society? NO not at all!” (Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD, Board Certified Physician, Author of Eat To Live)

“The dairy industry is very powerful with tons of money to run very successful ad campaigns. The individuals who understand the medical and nutrition research that dairy products are extremely risky, unhealthy and unnecessary—don’t have the financial backing to get the truth out.” (Jennifer Reilly, RD, Senior Nutritionist, Cancer Project)

“This kind of deception and dishonesty in the dairy industry – these are your children and family that are being hurt by their dishonesty, it’s shameful and disgraceful.”

“A diet high in animal products, is a diet especially high in saturated animal fat—and the biggest contributor of saturated fat to the American dietary landscape are dairy products—cheese and butter.” (Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD, Board Certified Physician, Author of Eat To Live)

“Dairy products will actually cause negative calcium balances, dairy products actually cause osteoporosis.” (Douglas Lisle, PhD, Director of Research for True North)

“Give up the dairy group over the meat group. Dairy is like liquid meat, they’re very similar. But dairy has extra problems associated with it. It causes autoimmune disease disorders, allergy problems, inflammation, migraine headaches, and arthritis. People think dairy is health food, without realizing it’s just a glob of saturated fat and cholesterol. If I was to give one powerful message to people, to our communities, to our country, to the world—it’s get off dairy and you’ll improve your health.” (John McDougall, MD, Physician & Nutrition Expert, Founder of McDougall Program)

“The old food pyramid is wrong was made by the food companies that produce the products.”

“The USDA’s primary interest is in protecting the livelihood of the livestock and dairy industry in the U.S., so to have them “recommend” our dietary standards is crazy and collusion with the meat and dairy industry, and presents a conflict of interest with our health. The USDA produces the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Nutritional Biochemist, author of “The China Study”)

“The USDA is telling Americans what to eat, based supposedly on health, but they also have a mandate by law that they must support agricultural products even the ones that are unhealthy for you.” (Dr. Neal Barnard, MD, Nutrition Researcher, Founder Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)

“Conflict of Interest Statements are important almost sacred. And are intended to be open to the American public. PCRM knew there were biases in the (Dietary Guidelines) report with the 11 people on the panel, but the USDA would not give the public CIS statements to PCRM, they had to go to court to force the USDA to see the Conflict of Interest Statements. The people on the USDA’s 11-person panel—many had meat and dairy industry ties, 6 of the 11 had financial relationships with the dairy, meat and egg industries, a total conflict of interest with public health.” (Dr. Neal Barnard, MD, Nutrition Researcher, Founder Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine).

“Food Assistance Programs are used not for health, but used as a dumping ground for overstock of agricultural commodities. The government buys them up, then puts the overstock dairy and meat into our prisons, Indian reservations, hospitals, school lunch programs, and into food assistance programs. When you think about it, many of these programs are racially biased. So many of these kids are lactose intolerant and milk makes them sick.”

“Organizations that allow these programs like WIC and Food Assistance Programs to exist, offer nothing more than the garbage from the dairy and livestock industries. They are all subsidized. These programs all have to agree to offer the dairy option. They are forced to. That’s disgusting.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, M.D.)

“Livestock is one of the biggest sources of deforestation in the world—all to create pastureland for cattle.”

“The higher the dairy consumption the higher the risk of osteoporosis—it’s not the other way around. They’ve gotten away with a lie for years.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, M.D.)

“We give people cholesterol-lowering drugs, diabetic medication, high blood pressure-lowering drugs, but we’re basically giving them permission to continue to eat the diet that is causing all the problem to begin with. The underlying disease will only get worse if the patient stays on the same diet that caused the diseases in the first place. That’s medical malpractice!” (Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., Board Certified Physician, Author of Eat To Live)

“If you look at Native Americans they have an overwhelming incidence of obesity and diabetes, which is taking an incredible toll on the population—it’s the milk, cheese, and high fat calories that are making them sick. They don’t get subsidies for healthy foods like beans and vegetables.”

“We humans don’t have the enzyme to digest milk past the age of two. When you’re a little baby that’s nursing breast milk is good, but after the age of weaning we lose that enzyme. You are born with the enzyme to break down milk, but you lose it. Lactose intolerance is totally normal and it’s a sign that you should be weaned and not drink milk.”

“The farmer’s pay for the diary national advertising campaigns, so big corporations can enjoy free advertising!”

“Vegetables are the best for calcium of all.”

Dairy Linked to Heart Disease

“Dairy products are a rich source of cholesterol and saturated fat. Which are the two things you want to avoid if you want to prevent heart disease or you are at risk for heart disease. It’s a recipe for a heart attack. If there’s one food to wipe out if you want to prevent heart disease, it’s cheese and butter. But when you have heart disease, you’re crazy if you eat cheese and butter.”

“In 2007, heart disease killed 652,486 people in America or more than 25% of the all deaths in the U.S. that year (National Center for Health Statistics).”

Dairy Linked to Cancer

“We worked on this for a total of 27 years, with dozens of research experiments over the years. We established that cow’s milk protein can increase cancer dramatically. Not only was it true, the link is very dramatic. We got to a point where we could just turn on or turn off cancer, just by giving them cow’s milk protein or taking it away. It was dramatic.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, M.D.)

“Cow’s milk protein, which we’ve been taught to think is sacred—actually causes cancer. The big question is why doesn’t the public get to know this.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, M.D.)

“We know that milk is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer – but the public isn’t getting the information.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, M.D.)

“Scientific journals show that their top scientists realize this milk and dairy advertising is all fraud.” (Dr. T. Colin Campbell, M.D.)

What You Can Do

1. Get calcium from safe, healthy plant sources including: green leafy vegetables, spring greens, cabbage, watercress, kale, broccoli and parsley and fortified plant-based milks like soy milk.
2. Buy and drink only plant-based milks like oat, cashew, soy, almond, coconut, and hemp milk that don’t cause heart disease, chronic diseases, reproductive cancers, and all the diseases associated with dairy and milk products.
3. Buy and eat only plant-based cheeses and plant-based butters.
4. Buy and eat only non-dairy ice cream made from plant-based sources including coconut, almond, and soy, or vegan sorbet made without milk from fruit and water. See this list for starters.
5. Learn about other dairy industry practices and undercover investigations done on dairy farms at Mercy for Animals.
6. Learn more about forced artificial insemination at Free From Harm.
7. Watch The Herd film here. The Herd replaces female cows with female humans, and by doing so hopes to promote a greater understanding of the true suffering inflicted upon cows in the dairy industry—everyday.
8. For more information on the dark side of the dairy industry, see VIVA! www.viva.org.uk

More Research About Dairy Products Linked to Disease

• Understanding the Problems with Dairy Products – http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_understand_foods/dairy.html
• Health Concerns about Diary Products – http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/health-concerns-about-dairy-products
• Dairy – 6 Reasons You Should Avoid it At All Costs – http://drhyman.com/blog/2010/06/24/dairy-6-reasons-you-should-avoid-it-at-all-costs-2/
• Do Dairy Products Cause Cancer? – http://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/ask/ask-the-expert-dairy-products
• Dairy Protein Causes Cancer – http://nutritionstudies.org/provocations-dairy-protein-causes-cancer/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=socm4DT3B98
• Does Milk Cause Cancer? – http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3560
• Milk Consumption and Prostate Cancer – http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/milk-consumption-and-prostate-cancer
• Does Milk Cause Cancer? – http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400175/Does-Milk-Cause-Cancer.html
• Organic Milk and Prostate Cancer – http://nutritionfacts.org/2015/02/17/organic-milk-and-prostate-cancer/
• Full Fat Dairy Products May be Linked to Worse Survival – http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/20130327
• Harvard study: Pasteurized milk from industrial dairies linked to cancer –http://www.naturalnews.com/035081_pasteurized_milk_cancer_dairy.html
• Healthy Milk? What is it? – http://www.anh-usa.org/healthy-milk-what-is-it/
• Hormones From Milk Can Be Dangerous – http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html
• Patterns of milk consumption and risk of cancer – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2300498
• Recombint Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) and Cancer – http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/recombinant-bovine-growth-hormone
• Have We Been Milked by the Dairy Industry? – http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/have-we-been-milked-by-the-dairy-industry/
• Read the book, Got Milked – https://www.amazon.ca/Got-Milked-calcium-thrive-without-ebook/dp/B00N0XC80Y
• Read “Whitewashed – How Industry and Government Promote Dairy Junk Foods – http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/SimonWhitewashedDairyReport.pdf

Awards

• Official Selection, EcoCinema 2008, Environmental Film Festival
• Official Selection 2008, South Korea, The Green Film Festival
• Official Selection, DOCAVIV 2008, Tel-Aviv Documentary Film Festival

Film Credits

• Directed and Produced by: Shira Lane
• Executive Producers: Thomas Sells & Steven Tobenkin
• Unleashed Productions & LeTo Entertainment

List of Experts

• T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Nutritional Biochemist, author of “The China Study”
• Amy Joy Lanou, PhD, Nutrition Researcher, University of North Carolina
• Neal Barnard, MD, Clinical Researcher, Founder Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine
• Joel Fuhrman, MD, Board Certified Physician, Author of Eat To Live
• Jennifer K. Reilly, RD, Senior Nutritionist
• Mira McGregor, Bovine Veterinarian, New Mexico
• John A. McDougall, MD, Physician & Nutrition Expert, Founder of McDougall Program
• Isabel Maples, Med, RD, Media Specialist, The Dairy Association
• USDA – They were not available!

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