 In a series of videos I did about saturated fat, I talked about a major campaign launched by the global dairy industry to neutralize the negative image of milk fat among regulators and health professionals as related to heart disease. That campaign continues to this day, with a publication of a meta-analysis demonstrating neutral, meaning non-harmful associations between dairy products and cardiovascular disease and death. OK, well, first of all, how do we know the dairy industry had anything to do with this study? Well, it was published in a journal that forces authors to disclose financial conflicts of interest. Let's see what they divulged. Dairy, dairy, dairy, dairy, dairy, dairy, the fourth largest dairy company in the world, dairy, dairy, milk, beer, soda, McDonald's, dairy, dairy, dairy, dairy. Oh, and the study itself was explicitly funded by dairy, dairy, dairy. OK, then. The other big new one was this, suggesting that a little bit of cheese every day isn't just neutral, but actually good for you. And they make it clear that they have no conflicts of interest. They're just employees of the Yili Innovation Center and the Yili R&D Center. You know, China's largest dairy producer, making it one of the world's largest dairy companies? OK, but how can cheese consumption be associated with better health outcomes? Well, most of these studies were from Europe, where cheese consumption is associated with a higher socioeconomic status. See, in Europe they're not eating cheese whiz and velvita. Cheese is generally an expensive product, and so who eats cheese? Those with higher paying jobs, higher socioeconomic strata, higher education levels, all of which are associated with better health outcomes, which may have nothing to do with their cheese consumption. Higher socioeconomic groups also consume more fruits and vegetables, and more candies. So I bet you could do a population study and show candy consumption is associated with better health. Shh, don't tell the National Confectioners Association. Too late, did you know that candy consumers have lower levels of inflammation? A 14% decreased risk of elevated blood pressure brought to you by the candy industry and the USDA, our government which props up the sugar industry to the tune of a billion dollars a year. It's like when our tax dollars are used to buy up surplus cheese. Paul Shapiro wrote a great editorial. Imagine the headline, government buys 20 million in surplus Pepsi, or hard-earned tax dollars buying up millions of unwanted cola cans, all as a favor to the flailing soda industry, which just kept producing drinks no one wanted. As outrageous as such a government handout to the soda industry would be, that's exactly what the USDA is doing for the dairy industry. Michelle Simon did a great report on how her government colludes with the industry to promote dairy junk foods. The federal government administers check-off programs to promote milk and dairy. McDonald's, a six-dedicated dairy check-off program, employs at its corporate headquarters to try to squeeze in more cheese. That's how we got double-stake quesadillas. That's how we got three cheese stuffed crust pizza complete with a summer of cheese. These funds are being used to promote foods that contribute to the very diseases our federal government is allegedly trying to prevent. Does it make sense to tell Americans to avoid foods high in salt, sugar, and saturated fat while engaging in the promotion of those same foods? Look, the meat and dairy industries can do what they like with their own money, but the public power of taxation should be used for the public good, not to support the dairy and candy industries.