Proposed BAI ban on cheese advertising a recipe for disaster

The draft code proposal by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, to ban the advertising of cheese on children’s television programmes, is a recipe for disaster, and represents the predictable consequences of anti-fat lobbying by senior HSE dieticians.

A recent newspaper report featured the collective opinions of several spokespersons in the health industry who, repeatedly and consistently, warned that “high fat” foods are the cause of our national health crisis.

Several well-known dieticians are on record here as condemning the use of butter and cheese because they are “high in cholesterol and increase the risk of heart attack”.

Others have even stated that the marketing of unhealthy food to Irish children “undermines the national health eating guidelines and the Food Pyramid”.

Undermining the traditional Food Pyramid is the very best thing that we can do in the health interests of our children, as it’s preferential recommendation of carbohydrates will encourage the very foods that promote insulin surges, diabetes and obesity.

Despite all the aggressive anti-cholesterol propaganda on TV and radio, neither cholesterol nor saturated fats are the prime culprits in heart disease or obesity!

Current dietary guidelines in respect of saturated fat restriction reflects the very dubious American Heart Association (AHA) dietary recommendations which have unfortunately influenced the food, nutrition and biomedical communities worldwide.

My evidence-based rebuttal of these anti-fat and anti-cholesterol statements was not published at the time of this report.

The Danish policy of taxing dairy products and dietary saturated fats, is not rooted in good science, and is thus misguided, retrogressive and contrary to the best health interests of its population.

If Ireland is to pursue a similar policy, falling prey to the politically-correct rhetoric of the anti-fat lobby, it will have failed its entire populace by endorsing the unhealthy alternatives to heart-healthy dietary fats.

The avoidance of nutrient-dense saturated fats (milk, butter, cheese, eggs, animal meat) seriously compromises the dietary absorption of fat soluble vitamins A,D, E & K, with dire consequences for health.

An open debate on these critical issues is long overdue.

Dr Neville Wilson

Medical Director

The Leinster Clinic

Maynooth