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Doctors Launch Petition To Label Cheese With Breast Cancer Warning

A petition has been started by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) to label cheese with a breast cancer risk warning, similar to the health risk notices attached to tobacco products.

The nonprofit organisation — which is made up of more than 12,000 doctors — want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make consumers aware of the dangers of consuming the popular dairy product.

Cow’s milk naturally contains estrogen, the primary female hormone. When the milk is processed into cheese, this estrogen is then present in concentrated amounts. Doctors have observed that, with regular consumption, this can mean an increase in breast cancer mortality rates.

The petition states that “to ensure that Americans understand the potential significant risks…of consuming dairy cheese products, the FDA should ensure that the notice…is prominently placed on product packaging and labelling for all dairy cheese products.”

Breast cancer killed over 40k women in the US in 2016 alone (Source: NS Natural Queen)

Why Cheese? Dairy Products & Breast Cancer

Several studies have pointed to the dangers of dairy, with The Life After Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) study showing particularly strong links. LACE was established in 2000 to investigate risk factors among survivors of the early stages of the disease.

The LACE study has shown that of these breast cancer survivors, those consuming one or more daily servings of a high-fat dairy product had a 49% higher breast cancer mortality rate. This is when compared with those who consumed less than half a serving daily.

This means that the women on the study who ate dairy cheese (or similar high-fat dairy produce) every day, were almost twice as likely to develop terminal breast cancer than those who ate much less.

Although the PCRM are specifically asking for a warning on dairy cheese, all high-fat dairy products, such as ice cream and whole milk, can pose the same problem.

Statistics

In the United States, breast cancer is the second most common type of the disease among women, and killed 41,487 women in 2016 alone.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with only heart disease claiming more lives each year. Oncancere in every four deaths in the country is cancer related.

Do you think all dairy products should come with a health warning? Let us know in the comments below!