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Advertising giant MilkPEP has received a federal complaint over its claims about dairy.
Plant-based charity Switch4Good (S4G) filed the complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It described several statements about milk being ‘an exercise recovery drink for all American’s’ as ‘misleading’.
The complaint requests MilkPEP retract and correct a claim. This is that ‘drinking fat-free milk after exercise replenishes lost electrolytes and rehydrates better than a sports drink or water’.
It also criticizes the source of the claim. This was a study based on seven healthy males of Irish extraction without lactose intolerance. S4G stated lactose intolerance is ‘least common among people who are from, or whose families are from, Europe’.
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“MilkPEP extrapolates findings from a very specific, unrepresentative demographic to the population at large. [It is] making broad, false implications that milk is an exercise recovery drink for all Americans, regardless of race, age, or ability to digest lactose. It clearly is not,” Switch4Good said.
“Cow’s milk is not suitable to ‘real recovery’ if you are lactose intolerant or even sensitive to the lactose found in cow’s milk. [This is because] you will experience multiple deleterious symptoms that will cripple recovery…
“This false statement by MilkPEP will affect a highly significant portion of the population. [This is] considering the NIH statistic that at least 36 percent of all Americans are lactose intolerant.”
*The FTC cannot resolve individual complaints, but does provide information about next steps to take. It also shares reports with local, state, federal, and foreign law enforcement partners. It may be used to investigate cases in a legal proceeding.
