A1 milk critic no expert - nutritionist

New Zealand's dominant milk type is A1 milk, produced by Fonterra. The alternative, A2, milk, is promoted and licensed by the A2 Corporation, and is in short supply in the South Island.

A2 milk does not contain the A1 milk protein that some link to illnesses such as type-one diabetes, heart disease, autism, schizophrenia and Crohn's disease.

Lincoln University academic and author Professor Keith Woodford recently received official papers revealing the way the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) dealt with the growing public debate about the milk types.

The papers show:

The conclusion the NZFSA drew from Professor Boyd Swinburn's report actually contradicted Swinburn's findings

There was advice and lobbying from Fonterra during the review process, but the NZFSA kept the A2 Corporation out of the loop.

The NZFSA released the report when Swinburn was unavailable to talk publicly about it.

The authority said in an email it did not want the media debating the science behind A1 and A2 milk.

University of Otago nutrition specialist Professor Jim Mann says the academic who recently stirred up the milk safety debate is no expert.

Mann said yesterday Lincoln University's Professor Keith Woodford, whose book Devil in the Milk was published last month, did not have the relevant scientific expertise to be accepted as an authority on the subject.

"Woodford has got no qualifications in my judgment to do this," Mann said.

"He does not have the skills to peer review, he does not have qualifications in public health, nutrition and epidemiology.

"We have been searching the literature to find out who he is," Mann said.

"I haven't read his book and I'm not going to. I have better things to do with my life. I have got too much to do.

"I've never met him. I'm sure he's a perfectly nice bloke, but where is his expertise to do this work?

"What really annoys me is seeing Mr Woolford (sic) on TV talking about this powerful epidemiology when he offers himself as an expert."

Woodford said it was "a great pity" when people were not willing to read the evidence.

"I have never claimed to be an expert and I am very suspicious of anyone who claims to be an expert, because there is always more to learn.

"However, I am very pleased to see the level of support that I am getting from other leading scientists, such as Professor Sir John Scott, Professor Garth Cooper, Professor Bob Elliott, Professor Boyd Swinburn, Professor Julie Campbell, Dr Murray Laugesen and others," Woodford said.

Mann said he was not "for" A1 milk or "against" A2.

"I'm actually for milk, which is an incredibly important food," Mann said.

"If we were not to drink A1 milk, we would be depriving 99 per cent of the world of good milk for the foreseeable future.

"You have got to have an incredibly good reason for saying there is a problem with A1 milk.

"Those people who have said perhaps we should go with A2 milk – there are one or two of them – even if there's a hint of a suspicion, they didn't look at global public health.

"What I'm saying is, in anything remotely like the scientific literature, there's nothing that I can find that makes me warn against the kind of milk that has been drunk for many, many years.

"I'm not saying there is nothing in the story, but I can't find anything in the story now that makes me want to stand up and tell the world to stop drinking milk."

Evidence that A1 milk might affect people's health was inconsistent and difficult to draw conclusions from, Mann said.

The incidence of type-one diabetes was rising but that of heart disease was falling, as was dairy consumption.

In the wake of the A1-A2 milk publicity, people were now asking their doctors if they should give up milk, which was disturbing, he said.

Mann said his defence of the science did not mean he was also defending the authority or the way it had handled the Swinburn report.

"My guess is they've become over-defensive," Mann said.

"To be perfectly honest, they could have said exactly what they have said in the same way without getting their fingers burnt."

Woodford said that science progressed more rapidly when people "focus on the science rather than attacking the messenger".

- © Fairfax NZ News