THE NATIONAL Dairy Council has failed to convince the European Food Safety Authority of its claim that children should eat three portions of dairy food a day to promote a healthy body weight.
It also failed to get a positive response from the authority’s panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies to promote the view that dairy products protect teeth from decay and do not harm them.
The panel is evaluating for the European Commission and European Parliament scientific evidence to substantiate health claims made by applicants.
It will then decide whether to authorise claims that would be used on labels or in food advertisements.
The National Dairy Council had submitted a claim that three portions of dairy food per day promoted a healthy body weight in children and adolescents.
It specified that the portions involved were 200ml of milk, 28 grammes of cheese or 125ml of yogurt.
In its summary, the panel said it considered these foods were not sufficiently characterised. For example, data on the nutritional composition and variability between products were not provided.
Dealing with the body weight of children, the panel said that of the five cross-sectional and the seven prospective observations presented, only four studies supported an association between the consumption of dairy foods and body fat estimates in children and adolescents.
“The panel noted that cross-sectional studies only provide an association and do not provide sufficient evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship.
“The two prospective studies included only a small sample size and covered a limited age range ,” said the report.
“However, there are no intervention studies to specifically examine any causal relationship, and there are insufficient data to establish a specific level or frequency of consumption of dairy foods associated with any specific effect on body weight,” it continued.
“On the basis of the data presented, the panel concludes that a cause-and-effect relationship is not established between the daily consumption of dairy foods and a healthy body weight in children and adolescents,” it concluded.
On the application to support the claim that dairy products “promoted dental health”, the panel said the studies submitted by the NDC was insufficient to establish a cause-effect relationship between the consumption of milk and reduction of tooth-decay development in children.
It said there was “significant weaknesses” in a study provided on the effect of one five-gramme piece of hard cheese daily on children between seven and nine years old.
It said this study and another study submitted on the subject had not described the dietary pattern or other life style factors in a comprehensive manner.
A spokesperson at the National Dairy Council which promotes dairy consumption in Ireland said it was examining the report.
The spokesperson said the council would decide after that examination what actions were open to it in the future.