A renaissance moment for a healthy America; July, Ice Cream Month celebrated big time

WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Just look at all of this ice cream right here in Washington, D.C.,” said an enthusiastic U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Mon., July 14 outside USDA headquarters as she applauded the dairy industry for stepping up in the Making America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative.

This was no ordinary observance of July as Ice Cream Month. This press conference had ice cream, food dyes, the re-write of the Dietary Guidelines, and an end to the demonization of natural saturated fat “all on the menu.”

For extra clout, Secretary Rollins was joined by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

Kennedy and Makary shared strong words about the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, giving full-throated recognition to real dairy for doing it all: offering protein, nutrition, and healthy fats, naturally.

They congratulated dairy farmers and processors for the nutrient dense whole milk and dairy foods they produce, highlighting emerging research showing Americans, especially children, do not consume enough protein and natural fat, and declaring an end to decades of demonization of foods that contain natural saturated fat, such as whole milk, real cheese, full-fat yogurt, and ice cream.

“This is relevant to my favorite food. I applaud the International Dairy Foods Association for stepping up to eliminate certified artificial colors from ice cream. The American people have made it clear — they want real food, not chemicals. Since we came in five and a half months ago, we’ve had this extraordinary response from the food industry,” said Kennedy.

“I grew up in a world where milk was the healthiest food you could eat. But there has been an attack on whole milk and cheese and full fat yogurt over the past couple decades. Brooke and I — our agencies — are about to release new Dietary Guidelines that will elevate those products to where they ought to be in terms of contributing to the health of our children,” Kennedy stated.

“There’s a tremendous amount of emerging science that talks about the need for more protein in our diet and more fats in our diet, and there’s no industry that does that better. I’m very grateful to this industry for stepping up, not only on (petroleum-based dyes) but also over the past 10 years, they’ve removed 60% of the sugar from flavored milk and dairy products in school lunches and have pledged to continue to reduce the amount of added sugar in the food.” he explained.

Kennedy spoke of the many dairy men and women in the audience that he met with that morning. “It was an amazing meeting with amazing people. We want to make it so that they are successful so that they can do what they love to do, and that is to provide our children with the healthiest food possible,” he said. “We cannot make MAHA successful without the partnership of the American farmers.”

FDA’s Makary praised Kennedy and Rollins for their vision. “This is a renaissance moment in health in America and part of that is rewriting the broken food and nutrition guidelines. No longer are we going to have a broken food pyramid and continuation of a 70-year demonization of natural saturated fat that began with Dr. Ancel Keys and a hypothesis that was supported with data that was incomplete and methodologically flawed,” he recounted.

“The medical community started with a robust debate about this, but that debate ended in the 1970s because there was groupthink. The medical community locked arms and walked off the cliff together, insisting that the reason for heart disease in the U.S. was because people were not consuming skim milk and no-fat and low-fat foods, ignoring the roles of refined carbohydrates in so many other things that drive general body inflammation, which is the precursor of fat deposition in the arteries. That dogma still lives large, and we see it in the food guidelines that we are now revising. We are going to have Dietary Guidelines that are based on science, not on dogma,” Makary said further.

IDFA’s Dr. Michael Dykes (DVM) called the day a great one for MAHA and for dairy. “I’m just overjoyed, to be honest with you. From nutritious to delicious, everything we do in the dairy industry begins with the dairy farmer,” he said, thanking those who traveled to the Capital from multiple states for this day that was about ice cream — honoring its history and ensuring its future.

Dykes talked about growing up as a kid on a dairy farm and then as a herd veterinarian, saying he’s been there and knows the hard work and dedication that goes into it. He praised the industry’s voluntary commitments on reducing added sugar that began a decade ago, the commitment already made to remove artificial dyes from school dairy products, and now this new commitment to eliminate artificial colors in ice cream.

“Our dairy industry is built on families. Many of these processing companies started off on a single farm with a single creamery, and years and generations later, have grown into major companies through dedication and hard work,” said Dykes.

Turkey Hill’s Jacobs, who chairs the IDFA ice cream board, thanked all the companies that signed on to the voluntary pledge (to eliminate artificial colors in ice cream).

“This announcement represents a commitment to lead major change. Why? First, many have already phased out certified artificial colors and others are working with suppliers to do so as quickly as possible. Second, we ensure ice cream remains a special part of our lives,” he said. “Third, this is about showing our consumers and communities that we are stepping up. Americans eat roughly 19 pounds of ice cream a year, and we contribute almost $12 billion to the U.S. economy, supporting over 27,000 dairy industry jobs.”

Somuela Schwoeppe, an Indiana dairy farmer and Prairie Farms Cooperative Board Member, spoke for dairy farmers. Her family milks 95 cows on a fifth-generation dairy farm near Huntingbird, Indiana.

“Ice cream is more than a treat and a dessert, it is part of how we support our families and our communities,” she said, adding a first-hand account that painted the picture of how transformational good nutrition is for a child, and dairy’s essential role in it.

“Milk contains many of the nutrients of public health concern, including calcium, Vitamin D, and potassium — and of course protein. These nutrients are often under-consumed, which is linked to various health conditions,” she said.

“Products containing real dairy are the most nutritious options, and even though ice cream is decadent, and has calories, it sure beats the heck out of candy and soda pop for a sweet treat, because ice cream is made from real wholesome milk that delivers a powerful nutrient package,” Schwoeppe concluded. “So, I’m just inviting everyone here: Let’s all join in the spirit and make sweet great again and enjoy some ice cream.”

The press event and questions were followed by scooping and eating ice cream provided by several companies, including Turkey Hill.