Last month, a teaser interview about cow’s milk on the Woody Avenger talk show, founded by host Woody Milintachinda, became a controversy because influencer guests raised many questions about the quality of cow milk produced in Thailand.
Guests included Savita Sresthaporn, an influencer from MsHappyDiet, Nuti Hutasingh, a food scientist from facebook.com/NutiTuckHutasingh, and Nantapol Pongrattanaman, a specialised vascular surgeon.
Savita received the most backlash because of her negative comments about local cow’s milk. In their comments, many accused her of devaluing Thailand’s milk and farmers. An example of her comments include: “Most cow milk in Thailand is not real milk. It is mixed with powdered milk.”
After the backlash, Woody apologised and took responsibility by deleting the teaser and suspended broadcast of the interview as well as releasing another about cow’s milk with specialists from the Ministry of Public Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
Assoc Prof Jessada Denduangboripant, a lecturer at the Department of Biology, Chulalongkorn University, was one of the academicians who posted on Facebook to clarify misconceptions regarding cow’s milk. He confirmed the standards of milk produced in Thailand are comparable to those in developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
“I checked with the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards and discovered that Thailand’s cow milk production has high standards and is comparable to milk produced in Australia and New Zealand. If we consider nutritional content such as protein and fat and acceptable microbe levels, they are equivalent to international standards. Many countries in Asean import Thailand’s cow milk products because of their high quality,” explained Assoc Prof Jessada.
Assoc Prof Chalat Santivarangkna, the director of Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, echoed that Thailand’s cow milk meets international standards.
“The dairy industry in Thailand is highly advanced. With a long production history, as well as a large volume of production, the technology used in Thailand is similar to that in other milk-producing countries. Some people may feel that milk in other countries tends to have a rich taste compared to milk in Thailand. Like many countries, Thai law stipulates that whole milk must contain a minimum of 3.2% milk fat. However, in some countries, the standard is a minimum of 3.5% milk fat. Thus, when Thai people consume milk from other countries, they may feel that the milk has a richer taste,” explained Assoc Prof Chalat.
The teaser made viewers suspect that Thai cow’s milk may be mixed with chemicals which are not identified on the product label because Savita said “most cow milk in Thailand is not real milk. It is mixed with powdered milk”. Moreover, Nuti said there are some additives that are not identified on milk labels.
Assoc Prof Chalat ensured that milk is a food product which is very strictly controlled because children consume it.
“The law has a lot of restrictions when it comes to consumer safety. Substances allowed to be added, are strictly regulated. Substances like preservatives and artificial sweeteners are prohibited. The vitamins and minerals in powdered milk may be lower than that of fresh milk, but only slightly,” said Assoc Prof Chalat.
Assoc Prof Jessada added: “There is nothing wrong with powdered milk because it is made by removing water from liquid milk through various processes, making it easy to store, easy to use, and it can be reconstituted. Powdered milk is legal and has nutritional value.
“The teaser misled viewers into thinking fresh milk is powdered milk mixed with water, which is not true. Product labels make it clear whether the product is 100% fresh cow’s milk, or powdered milk. Additionally, the teaser mentioned that milk has added substances and hormones. In fact, milk does not contain any dangerous substances or hormones.
“To add other ingredients, such as chocolate or other substances to enhance flavour and nutritional value, may require the use of emulsifiers. However, milk that is manufactured legally is safe, because emulsifiers must be used within the prescribed limits.”
In the teaser, Savita claimed that whenever she drinks milk, she breaks out in rashes, and that she did not know she had lactose intolerance. Many Thai people have lactose intolerance and assume they are allergic to milk.
“Lactose intolerance is unlikely to be related to a rash on the arms for a long period of time. People with a milk allergy are allergic to certain proteins in milk. As a result, they often experience severe and rapid symptoms such as hives, vomiting, diarrhoea and difficulty breathing,” said Assoc Prof Jessada.
Assoc Prof Chalat explained that lactose intolerance occurs when the body does not produce enough digestive enzymes that break down lactose in the small intestine. When undigested lactose passes through the large intestine where there is a lot of bacteria, this causes diarrhoea, gas and bloating.
“Because many Thais stop consuming milk when they become adults, it leads to a lack of lactose digestive enzymes. However, people can improve their intolerance by drinking small amounts of milk over time. In case they do not want to drink milk, but want to have similar nutrients, people can consume yoghurt and lactose-free milk. These products have added micro-organisms to digest lactose,” Assoc Prof Chalat said.
In addition to lactose-free milk, there is plant-based milk such as soy, almond and oat. Assoc Prof Chalat pointed out that the body can absorb nutrients from cow’s milk well, and that nutrients from soy milk can be absorbed just as well. However, some plant milks are not well absorbed by the body, such as almond and oat, because they have lower protein and nutritional content.
In the teaser, Savita suggested that if consumers want real milk, they should drink grass-fed cow’s milk. Assoc Prof Jessada explained that “grass-fed milk” comes from cows that have grass as their core diet and live in a free-range environment.
This lifestyle helps cows have better well-being and milk from these animals is claimed to contain omega-3s which benefits the heart. However, since their core diet is grass, they do not produce much milk and this causes grass-fed cow’s milk to be expensive.
Assoc Prof Jessada and Assoc Prof Chalat agreed that people should consume a variety of foods to gain complete nutrition. Even though cow’s milk is an excellent source of protein, it lacks dietary fibre and other nutrients.
In today’s digital age, people are flooded with information which includes misinformation and fake news. Assoc Prof Jessada commented that fake news should be handled by the Anti-Fake News Center at the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, since there is the Computer Crime Act, which prohibits the importation of false information that causes damage to a third party or the public. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society should file a lawsuit against people who cause the damage.
“However, there are different concepts and beliefs between mainstream health professionals and alternative or longevity health professionals. People have to weigh facts and evidence before believing anything,” Assoc Prof Jessada added.
Assoc Prof Chalat advised that before jumping to conclusions, people should consider if speakers specialise in the area or not, even if they are medical doctors. There are many kinds of doctors and some do not work in the field being discussed. People should consider if speakers have conflicted interests or not and if there is solid evidence to support their claims.
“Some speakers want to make content easy to understand, so they come up with conclusions, but nutritional issues do not have definitive conclusions. It depends on a combination of factors. Some issues are still inconclusive and evidence on both sides may still be in the gathering process. Thus, it is difficult to draw a definitive conclusion on some issues,” said Assoc Prof Chalat.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
