Dear Editor, I read with great interest your article ("Latest 'Got Milk?' Ad Effort to Target Dieters" -- January 14), on our new national Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) campaign. I would like to reinforce that this new campaign is not a weight loss effort at all -- it's an effort to get Americans to rethink diet season, avoid extreme diets and not be focused on their annual efforts to reach a certain number on a scale or fit into a particular dress size. Instead, we're focused on helping people make lifelong changes to maintain their health and manage their weight. Today, we're finding that Americans are really interested in maintaining healthy weight and reaping the health benefits that go along with healthy weight -- reduced risk of certain diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke. And, our report, "Weighing in on the American Diet," revealed that Americans are ready for this kind of approach. Furthermore, studies suggest that drinking the recommended three glasses of lowfat or fat free milk a day can help maintain a healthy weight, and that drinking lowfat or fat free milk provides two nutrients, that along with exercise, are essential when cutting calories - calcium to prevent bone loss and protein to build muscle mass. Its nine essential nutrients make milk an ideal choice for anyone interested in maintaining healthy weight and overall good health. Sincerely, Kurt Graetzer Chief Executive Officer, National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board –Washington, DC

Dear Editor: I am shocked by the new dairy industry campaign promoting milk as a weight-loss aid. If any advertising campaign was based on smoke and mirrors, this is it. As a dietitian, I can tell you that the dairy industry is dangerously short on scientifc evidence to support its claims. In fact, in May 2007, the Federal Trade Commission announced that national ad campaigns overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that made those claims were not supported by conclusive scientific evidence. The agency said that dairy industry groups had agreed to discontinue all advertising involving weight-loss claims. This new campaign is just a slightly toned-down version of the previous one. Weight loss isn't the only claim that the dairy industry falsely promotes. Research shows that dairy isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to bone health either. And there are other drawbacks as well. A new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology by the National Institutes of Health shows that two or more servings of skim milk was positively associated with an increased risk of advanced prostate cancer. For more information about the problems with dairy, please visit: http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/dairy.html Sincerely, Susan Levin, M.S., R.D. Staff Dietitian Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 5100 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20016 (202) 686-2210 ext. 333 fax: (202) 527-7433 slevin@pcrm.org www.pcrm.org –Washington, DC