Open letter to the European Commission regarding EU promotion of meat and dairy

Written by Rohini Bajekal, communication lead for PBHP UK

Plant Based Health Professionals UK, an organisation of over 800 health professionals, are welcoming the Commission’s aim to review the agricultural promotion policy “with a view to enhancing its contribution to sustainable production and consumption, and in line with the shift to a more plant-based diet, with less red and processed meat and more fruit and vegetables.^[1]

We are therefore urging the Commission to ensure a positive outcome of this review improving the public health of European citizens by ending the promotion of meat and dairy, and investing in the promotion of healthy sustainable plant-based diets.

Promoting animal-based diets poses tremendous risks to public health

Unhealthy diets are now responsible for 1 in 5 deaths globally every year, around 11 millions deaths in total, making this a leading risk factor for chronic disease, disability and death.^[2] Poor diets are major risk factors contributing to the rise in obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and dementia. In the EU, the average consumption of red meat exceeds recommendations, while the intake of plant-based foods such as legumes or vegetables is insufficient, as laid out in the Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy.^[3]

Promote healthy diets EU wide and beyond

Eating a plant-based diet refers to eating a diet that consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, with few or no animal products. Plant-based diets are abundant in nutrients such as fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that are often lacking in the standard Western diet. They are low in saturated fat, predominately found in animal-derived foods. Replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat improves health outcomes and reduces mortality.

Eating a plant-based diet has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of our commonest chronic diseases, whilst helping you live a longer and healthier life. For example, a healthy plant-based diet reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 25%^[4], cancer by 15%^[5], type 2 diabetes by at least 50%^[6] and helps you maintain a healthy weight throughout your life^[7]. Plant-based diets are not only optimal for disease prevention but can also be used to treat established illness in conjunction with conventional medical treatments. A 100% whole food plant-based diet has been shown to be extremely useful for weight loss^[8], heart disease^[9], type 2 diabetes^[10] and much more.

The impact of a plant-based diet is such that national and international guidelines now recommend plant-based diets for prevention of cardiovascular disease^[11], cancer^[12] and the treatment of type 2 diabetes^[13]. Major dietetic organisations around the world, including the British Dietetic Association in the UK have confirmed that a well-planned vegan diet can meet nutritional requirements for all stages of life from birth through to old age^[14].

Considering the proven negative impacts of diets containing meat and dairy, it is vital the Commission stops the promotion of such products. Instead, the Commission should take their aim to promote the shift towards plant-based diets seriously.

^[1] European Commission. EU farm and food products – review of policy on promotion inside and outside the EU. 2021. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12782-EU-farm-and-food-products-review-of-policy-on-promotion-inside-and-outside-the-EU

^[2] EAT-Lancet. EAT-Lancet Commission Summary Report.https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/eat-lancet-commission-summary-report/

^[3] European Commission. A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system, 2020. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:ea0f9f73-9ab2-11ea-9d2d-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format=PDF

^[4] Satija A, Bhupathiraju SN, Spiegelman D, et al. Healthful and Unhealthful Plant-Based Diets and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in U.S. Adults. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;70(4):411-422. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2017.05.047

^[5] Dinu M, Abbate R, Gensini GF, Casini A, Sofi F. Vegetarian, vegan diets and multiple health outcomes: A systematic review with meta-analysis of observational studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017;57(17):3640-3649. doi:10.1080/10408398.2016.1138447

^[6] Tonstad S, Butler T, Yan R, Fraser GE. Type of vegetarian diet, body weight, and prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2009;32(5):791-796. doi:10.2337/dc08-1886

^[7] Satija A, Malik V, Rimm EB, Sacks F, Willett W, Hu FB. Changes in intake of plant-based diets and weight change: results from 3 prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019;110(3):574-582. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqz049

^[8] Wright, N., Wilson, L., Smith, M. et al. The BROAD study: A randomised controlled trial using a whole food plant-based diet in the community for obesity, ischaemic heart disease or diabetes. Nutr & Diabetes 7, e256 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nutd.2017.3

^[9] Ornish D, Scherwitz LW, Billings JH, et al. Intensive Lifestyle Changes for Reversal of Coronary Heart Disease. JAMA. 1998;280(23):2001–2007. doi:10.1001/jama.280.23.2001

^[10] Barnard ND, Cohen J, Jenkins DJ, et al. A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled, 74-wk clinical trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89(5):1588S-1596S. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.26736H

^[11] Arnett K, Blumenthal R et al. 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. 2019;140:e596–e646. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678

^[12] Thomson Rock C, Thomson C et al. American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. CA. 2020;70(4): 245-271. doi:10.3322/caac.21591

^[13] Kelly J, Karlsen M et al. Type 2 Diabetes Remission and Lifestyle Medicine: A Position Statement From the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. 2020;14(4):406-419. doi:10.1177/1559827620930962

^[14] BDA. British Dietetic Association confirms well-planned vegan diets can support healthy living in people of all ages. 2017. https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/british-dietetic-association-confirms-well-planned-vegan-diets-can-support-healthy-living-in-people-of-all-ages.htm l

Click here to download the open letter to the European Commission regarding EU promotion of meat and dairy.

An open letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social care calls for a public health campaign on climate and ecology

Protecting public health from the risks caused by the climate and ecological crises must be at the centre of government policy and action

Click here to read the letter, published in the BMJ.

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Open Letter to NHS Leaders and the UK Government, May 28th 2020

UPDATE: We’ve received responses from the four nation governments we contacted. Read their responses below.

England – Response from Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care

Northern Ireland – Response to open letter from CMO Michael McBride

Scotland – Response to NHS letter

Wales – Response to NHS letter

If you’re part of the NHS and want to add your support, please follow this link.

Watch the video below:

We, NHS doctors and staff, are writing to urge NHS leaders and the Government to pass bold post-COVID-19 legislation to allow for rapid, nationwide changes to the obesogenic and unsustainable food environment in which we currently live. This environment has added to the UK’s COVID-19 pandemic death toll.

As healthcare professionals we are concerned that business will restart as usual after the pandemic. It is not acceptable that the NHS is collapsing under the burden of chronic diseases, the majority of which could be prevented and treated by addressing diet and lifestyle factors. We are willing to take on the task of shifting the NHS focus from a reactive healthcare system to one that promotes health and prevents chronic illness. However, this action needs to be fully embraced by NHS leaders and the Government, who should now place the nation’s long term health at the centre of their policy.

The proposed changes include:

1. Further taxation and cessation of subsidies for junk food/fast foods/soft drinks producers as well as industrial animal farming.
2. Ban on junk food advertising and any market manipulations which aim to increase consumption of unhealthy, processed foods or drinks.
3. Subsidies to support the UK population in adopting a predominantly whole food plant based diet for both human and planetary health.
4. Promotion of a plant-based food system through the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (No-Till) systems to lower carbon emissions and reduce the risk of entering a ‘post-antibiotic era’.
5. Protection of the oceans by discouraging over-fishing and reducing the reliance on fish consumption, finding alternate sources of long-chain omega-3 fats.
6. Showcase healthy, sustainable eating through public sector catering in schools, hospitals and prisons.

Background:

Three in four of the world’s new or emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic and are mainly transmitted through wildlife trade and factory farming.

The provision for the increasing demand for cheap meat is hugely contributing to environmental degradation and the rise of antibiotic resistance.

90% of global wild fish stocks have been over-fished or fished at capacity. Farmed fish are contaminated with antibiotics and chemicals that pose a risk to human health.

A diet high in processed foods and animal products is driving the epidemic of chronic disease and increasing the risk of dying from COVID-19. This is of particular concern for communities of lower socio-economic means and is disproportionately affecting minority ethnic communities.

NHS leaders and the Government need to act in the interests of the people and the planet rather than the interests of the corporate sector, who have contributed to the current climate and healthcare crisis through aggressive lobbying and marketing techniques.

Signatories

References

Willett, W. et al. (2019) ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’, Lancet, 6736, pp. 3–49. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4.

2020 Global Nutrition Report; https://globalnutritionreport.org

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS. A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. Brussels, 20.5.2020 https://ec.europa.eu/food/farm2fork_en

State of the world fisheries and aquaculture 2018 http://www.fao.org/3/i9540en/i9540en.pdf

A. Kassam, T. Friedrich & R. Derpsch (2019) Global spread of Conservation Agriculture, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 76:1, 29-51, DOI: 10.1080/00207233.2018.1494927

Click here to download the open letter to NHS Leaders and the UK Government.

Why we need a plant-based food system

Watch a replay of Rohini Bajekal speaking about the link between zoonotic disease and pandemics and benefits of plant-based diet for human health and planetary health on facebook.

Read her speech below:

My name is Rohini Bajekal and I’m a nutritionist representing Plant-Based Based Health Professionals UK – a group of doctors, nurses, dieticians and nutritionists who are dedicated to promoting a plant-based diet. We are here to support the call for an urgent transition to a plant-based food system. This is essential for the health of humans, non-human animals and the future of our planet.

Animal agriculture and the food we eat is inextricably linked to zoonotic diseases. 3 in 4 emerging infectious diseases now come from animals, from transmission from the wildlife trade and factory farms. Whether its swine flu in pigs, avian flu in birds or SARS originating in civets, the underlying theme is the same. Our exploitation of animals and our destruction of their wild habitats has brought us into closer contact than ever before, thereby increasing the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.

Unfortunately, the xenophobic coverage of Chinese wet markets has distracted from the main issue at hand. Our insatiable demand for meat in places like the UK is what actually poses the deadliest threat. Factory farming has been described as a “a perfect storm environment” for infectious diseases with poultry farms a “ticking time bomb”. We need to protect slaughterhouse workers who are always from poorer, marginalised groups who have suffered the brunt of unnecessary COVID outbreaks due to the nature of their work. The frequent and widespread use of antibiotics on farm animals has also contributed to a huge rise in the number of antibiotic-resistant infections which endanger human lives. The UN has already warned that an extra 10 million people may die by 2050 as a result of antibiotic resistance. that are completely preventable. It’s now not a question of if there’ll be yet another pandemic, it’s a question of when.

This is why we need action, and we need it quickly. The UK government needs to stop funding and subsidising intensive animal farming both in the UK and globally in the midst of the current pandemic. We need to challenge them. Why are they continuing to subsidise cow’s milk in schools when there are healthier and more sustainable plant-based alternatives? Why are they funding livestock farms around the world during a climate crisis? In the UK, 70% of farmland is used for livestock farming, whilst we import more than 80% of our fruits and vegetables, the foods that are necessary for good health. We urgently need to improve access to healthy plant-based foods and make them affordable to all. We need a plant-based food system.

The ways in which this could benefit our health are immeasurable. The Covid-19 pandemic, one of the worst we have seen in generations, has already further strained the NHS. It has been particularly disastrous for those of lower socioeconomic means and communities of colour. Our healthcare system struggles to cope on a daily basis with the burden of chronic disease, the majority of which could be addressed by changing diet and lifestyle. Killing animals is killing us too. And for what? Major dietetic organisations around the world including the British Dietetic Association all state that a plant-based diet can meet nutritional requirements at all stages of life- from birth to old age. It is one of the healthiest choices you can make. A healthy plant-based diet reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 25%, certain cancers by around 15% and type 2 diabetes by at least 50%. These foods also honour compassion for animals, and the future of our planet.

There are so many plant-based protein alternatives to choose from. Our diets should be centred around whole plant foods that promote health such as whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Love the taste of animal products? Innovation in food tech has made delicious plant-based meat and dairy alternatives without the need for slaughterhouses or immense drain on resources. But it’s time for policymakers to stop disingenuously placing the burden entirely for change entirely on individuals. There is now global consensus that to sustain both human and planetary health, we must all shift to a plant-based food system. The time is now.

Milk, this is your moment

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Preventing pandemics

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Open letter to Dr Hilary Jones with reference to free school milk

Response to Dr Hilary Jones’ letter to RT Hon Matt Hancock MP Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, regarding Plant Based Health Professionals UK’s call to replace free school milk in school with plant milk, fruit and vegetables.

You will remember that back in August, I worked on the World Plant Milk Day Campaign and did an interview with the Times newspaper calling for an end to free school milk and and instead to subsidise fruit, vegetables and plant milk. Unbeknown to us, this generated a letter to RT Hon Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, from Dr Hilary Jones on behalf of The School & Nursery Milk Alliance. Who even knew about this organisation?! I quote ‘We are a coalition of organisations from the early years, education, health and dairy sectors who are committed to promoting the benefits to children’s physical and dental health and wellbeing that arise from drinking milk in learning environments’. So essentially a dairy funded front organisation. The UK Government are of course complicit in propping up the dairy industry using tax payers money even though demand for milk is steadily reducing, excess milk is being thrown away, dairy farming is contributing to environmental destruction and it’s irrelevance for human health.

As an aside, for those of you not in the UK, Dr Hilary Jones is a General Practitioner and one of our most long standing TV doctors, featuring prominently on morning TV. He has just been awarded an MBE. It’s a shame he is not more up to date on the science of milk consumption and human health.

Dear Dr Jones,

I am disappointed to learn that you continue to promote cow’s milk consumption in children and the free school milk programme. You state that milk has ‘unrivalled nutritional content’. In my view, the nutritional content of milk is only unrivalled if you are a baby cow. There is no requirement for milk consumption beyond weaning, as evidenced by the fact that 70% of the global population have lactose malabsorption, which can manifest as intolerance. Europeans have indeed adapted to digesting dairy beyond weaning but even then, up to 30% are not able to digest the main sugar lactose. For those with lactose intolerance, consuming dairy can be distressing, leading to abdominal pain, diarrhoea and nausea. The school milk programme excludes and discriminates against those with lactose intolerance, often children from ethnic minorities in the UK.

With this is mind, Health Canada has removed dairy from its most recent food guide. The healthiest hydration for children and adults is in fact water. You however state various health benefits of dairy consumption for children, such as boosting energy, aiding concentration and maintaining a healthy weight but there is no such conclusive evidence. In fact, a review paper from earlier this year summarising the current evidence for milk consumption in one of the world’s most highly respected medical journals concluded that milk was not required for optimal health in children or adults. The authors conclude that there is no convincing evidence that milk consumption promotes a healthy weight, improves bone health or reduces the risk of any chronic illness. In fact, they highlight that milk consumption has the potential for harm, including an increased risk of eczema, asthma, acne, prostate and endometrial cancers.

You claim that dairy consumption helps maintain a healthy weight in children, yet a randomised study found no benefit of dairy consumption for reducing body fat or weight. You also state that omitting dairy from the diet could lead to malnutrition, including Kwashiorkor — a form of protein malnutrition — especially when consuming a rice-based vegan diet. Yet, when meeting calorie requirements, scientific studies have shown that a healthy plant-based diet provides more protein than is required for any age group.

Neither I nor Plant-Based Health Professionals UK are recommending a rice-based vegan diet in place of free school milk. The study you cite raising concerns about the use of plant milks leading to malnutrition was conducted in children aged 4 to 14 months, when breast milk is considered the optimal source of calories and nutrients, and these data cannot be extrapolated to school-aged children. Studies have shown that the growth, health and nutritional status of vegetarian and vegan children are within normal range and comparable with non-vegetarian children. It is widely accepted that nutrients found in milk, including calcium, can be obtained from whole plant sources and fortified plant milks if preferred. Fortified soya milk, the most appropriate alternative to cow’s milk, has similar quantities of protein and calcium as cow’s milk, with benefits for heart health and breast cancer reduction. The absorption of calcium from many green vegetables is also greater than that from cow’s dairy. This information is supported and endorsed by major dietetic associations around the world including most recently the BDA in the UK.

I agree wholeheartedly with you that our children need access to high-quality nutrient rich food. The foods most associated with health promotion in children and adults are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Yet only 18% of children in the UK eat five portions of fruits and vegetables a day. We should be promoting the consumption of these foods in schools, which are inclusive of all communities and supported by strong scientific evidence. It is time we put children’s health before the vested interests of the dairy industry.

Yours Sincerely

Dr Shireen Kassam, Founder and Director of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK

If you have found this article useful, please follow my organisation ‘plant-based health professionals UK’ on Instagram @plantbasedhealthprofessionals and facebook. You can support our work by joining as a member or making a donation via the website.