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The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an advocacy group that has a history of battles against the dairy industry, has filed lawsuits alleging false advertising for claiming milk helps in weight loss.
The group said one lawsuit against the industry is intended as a class action to discontinue the advertisements, while a second lawsuit seeks monetary damages. Among the companies targeted in the lawsuits are Kraft Foods Inc., General Mills, Danoneunic Dannon and trade groups including the International Dairy Foods Association.
According to a spokesman for the group, Howard White, the dairy industry has been suffering falling sales and has responded by falsely marketing dairy milk as helping weight loss. Susan Ruland, a spokeswoman for the dairy group, responded by saying PCRM’s nutritional criticism is an illegitimate cover for the group’s opposition to the use of animal products.
Critics of the advocacy group, including the dairy industry, has pointed to its connections with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, saying the latest attacks are examples of how the group has changed its approach to better mask its cause, according to Ruland. Critics question if PCRM is really after nutritional reform or if it acting because of its ties to PETA. Earlier in the month, PCRM launched an advertising campaign in Washington proposing a class action suit on behalf of lactose intolerant people.
PCRM maintains it has dealt with PETA on issues, but that was in the past and they have their own goals. The group has filed numerous petitions with regulators for what it has claimed was deceptive marketing. The suits were filed in a Virginia court on behalf of a woman claiming she gained weight after drinking milk in amounts the industry recommends.