Sugary milk being pitched as ‘health drink’

A rather strange story has emerged in the USA where a marketing company has tried to sell the idea of chocolate milk as some kind of post-workout recovery drink for football players. The catch? The product, called Fifth Quarter Fresh, has 42 grams of sugar per bottle!

There has been recent media attention on the issue of brain damage caused by sports. This follows the release of a new movie called Concussion which is based on a true story about a forensic pathologist’s efforts to get the National Football League to face the truth about chronic traumatic encephalopathy in order to prevent more players having to suffer from its destructive effects.

In a strange twist of fate, the risk of brain damage is now being used to try and sell sugary milk.

Here are some points from a recent article on the topic:

• Fifth Quarter Fresh’s marketing says “Protect the Brain,” and its product “may lower the risk of concussion-related symptoms.”  
• This fits with the many other dubious health claims Michele Simon documented in her report “Whitewashed: How Industry and Government Promote Dairy Junk Foods.”
• She wrote, “While major food conglomerates reap sky-high profits from the sales of ‘junkified’ processed dairy products, they do so at the expense of public health.”
• Based on the flimsy UMD research, schools are now giving Fifth Quarter Fresh to students while ignoring the reams of peer-reviewed and published research which show high- sugar diets increase the risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cancer.

Follow the link to read the full article.