The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed the original lawsuit seeking lactose warning labels on all milk products, and is appealing the ruling on behalf of the residents.
Judge Henry Kennedy Jr., a Columbia District Court judge, threw out PCRM's original request, which bolstered the U.S. dairy industry's efforts to avoid mandatory labeling -- already a requirement in the EU, in accordance with its allergen labeling rules.
Similar efforts to undermine labeling requirement attempts are also underway in the UK, where the UK Dairy Council said that 45 percent of UK residents claimed to be lactose intolerant, whereas only 2 percent had been diagnosed. Diagnosing an intolerance is more difficult than diagnosing an allergy, since the symptoms are often very general. However, the public has responded well to lactose-free dairy products on the market, according to research group Euromonitor, which says such products showed promising growth last year.
Consumer advocates say the D.C. court's decision to throw out the labeling requirement is simply a way to keep consumers ignorant of the possible negative effects of consuming dairy products, and a ploy to sell more milk. "The dairy industry wants the public to remain ignorant about lactose intolerance," explained Mike Adams, a consumer health advocate. "Keeping consumers in the dark simply sells more milk," he said.
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