Raising concerns over Dairy Farmer’s of Canada’s influence on Nutrition Month

Dietitians of Canada is currently hosting one of the biggest events of the year, Nutrition Month. This is a great opportunity to promote healthy eating to the public, but as a Registered Dietitian I am concerned to see that Dairy Farmer’s of Canada are one of the two official campaign sponsors.

As sales of dairy milk have been slumping in Canada for the last 30 years,  and earlier this year, dairy lost it’s status as separate food group in the new Canada’s Food Guide. Dairy is now just one of the choices in the proteins group, along with meats, and beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and tofu. Furthermore, Canada recommends that Canadian’s chose plant-based sources of protein more often.

Dairy is under threat. It is, therefore, no surprise that Dairy Farmer’s of Canada want to partner with Dietitians of Canada to give a health halo to their product and potentially boost consumer confidence and sales.

But, is it ethical for Dietitians of Canada to partner with industry? On their “About Us” page, Dietitians of Canada state:Our purpose is to advance health through food and nutrition; including providing evidence-based food and nutrition information. Could a partnership with Industry bias the information shared in the Nutrition Month campaign?

As a vegan I acknowledge that I am biased against animal agriculture’s influence on health professionals. However, I want to be clear that I would prefer to see no food or agricultural industry sponsorship of Nutrition Month. This includes other current or previous sponsors like Mexican Avocados or Canadian Lentils

As part of Nutrition Month, there are 10 ‘Feature Recipes’. Eight of those 10 recipes include dairy products in the ingredients list. Four of those recipes were submitted directly by Dairy Farmer’s of Canada, four by Avocados from Mexico and two by Canola Eat Well, who are listed as a ‘supporting sponsor’ of Nutrition Month. 

Only one of these recipes, the Crispy Chickpeas with Pumpkin Seeds and Lime, prominently features plant-based sources of protein. These recipes are not developed by Dietitians of Canada, they were developed by sponsors.

These recipes are are out of step with the messaging in current food guide. Dietitians are encouraged to share these recipes on our social media, not because of their health promoting properties, but because they feature sponsor’s products (dairy, avocados and canola oil).

The official Nutrition Month poster was produced by Dairy Farmer’s of Canada, and to order or download it, Dietitians of Canada’s 6000 members must visit a site called DairyNutrition.ca This seems like a pretty powerful and insidious way to influence the views of Registered Dietitians, who are Canada’s trusted nutrition professionals. 

DairyNutrition.ca is unsurprisingly and unabashedly pro-dairy. Their Scientific Evidence tab, is headed with the statement “It is well known that milk products are an integral part of a healthy diet” and their ‘Facts and Fallacies’ section states that “Scientific evidence supports the fact that there is no need to be concerned about the health consequences of consuming milk products”. These statements are more propaganda than evidence. 

In fact, the data on dairy consumption are mixed, and some recent studies have linked dairy consumption with increased cancer mortality, development of diabetes and increased risk of heart disease. Dairy products, especially cheese, are also major sources of sodium and saturated fat in the Canadian diet. It is disingenuous to promote milk products as unequivocally healthy.  

Dairy is not an essential food. Protein, calcium and vitamin D are essential, however they can be found from plant-based sources and fortified products.

As a Registered Dietitian, I am concerned about this alignment with industry. Not only the dairy industry, but I am concerned about any player in the food or agricultural industry influencing the advice that health professionals give Canadians.

I would prefer to see no food or agricultural sponsors of Dietitians of Canada activities, including Nutrition Month. Dietitians of Canada has already taken the courageous step of removing industry sponsorship from their annual conference, except at the clearly marked ‘sponsor showcase’.

If there are to be sponsors, the details of the sponsorship should be public and transparent. How much money was involved? What is that money used for? Are there any benefits to sponsors in terms of promotion of their products in Nutrition Month recipes, posters or fact sheets?

I could not find any public disclosure documents about the details of their partnership with Dairy Farmer’s of Canada on the Dietitians of Canada website. Dietitians and the public need to be protected from the influence of industry.

We, as a nation, have just completed the process of updating our food guide, and was so proud as a Canadian and as a dietitian that Health Canada took the stand not to meet with industry in consultation for the new food guide, but instead to be guided by the highest quality scientific evidence and the input they received from Canadians.

Dietitians of Canada may argue that these campaigns are expensive to mount, and that it is impossible without food or agricultural industry sponsorship. That may be the case, however it is worth noting that Dietitians of Canada finds the funds to pay its own employees high salaries. In 2015 the Chief Executive Officer at Dietitians of Canada made $350K, which is nearly six times greater than the average Registered Dietitian’s salary of 60K. I could not find any more recent, publicly available information about current salaries at DC. 

Ties between Dairy Farmer’s of Canada and Dietitians of Canada run deep. Dairy Farmer’s of Canada have sponsored Nutrition Month for many years. Also, the Chief Executive Officer at Dietitians of Canada, Nathalie Savoie previously worked for Dairy Farmer’s of Canada for ten years. For three of those years she was concurrently serving on the Dietitians of Canada Board of Directors. Nathalie has been open about her ties to industry, which is promising. I applaud this transparency and I feel it is essential to ensuring our credibility as a profession. 

Questions remain, about the use of industry funding in Dietitians of Canada. I think Dietitians of Canada needs to carefully examine their ethics and policies around accepting and allocating funds.

I am proud to be a Registered Dietitian, however I am concerned about how industry might be influencing the nutrition messages we communicate to the public. I am calling for a ban on industry sponsorship at best, or at least total disclosure and transparency about these relationships.