The title of a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PCRM, news release reads: Physicians Urge Elizabeth Hurley to Disavow False Dairy Diet Claims. According to PCRM, they have sent a letter to Elizabeth Hurley, asking the actress to stop participating in the Got Milk? advertising campaign that falsely implies that consuming dairy products facilitates weight loss.

“If Ms. Hurley drinks as much milk as the dairy industry advises, she may soon have trouble fitting into her bikini,” says Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., a PCRM staff dietitian. “The scientific evidence against the dairy diet theory is overwhelming. Not only does dairy consumption not lead to weight loss, but dairy has been linked to health problems ranging from lactose intolerance to increased risk of some types of cancer.”

I have found some research indicating a possible link to dairy and cancer, and a link of obesity and cancer. Normally I would applaud such efforts to stop a company attempting to promote a product that might have adverse health benefit . But, I am not fond of censorship or group pressure on an individual to act according to how the group has decided they should act. It is one thing to file lawsuits to stop the multimillion-dollar advertising campaign claiming that milk facilitates weight loss, and to ask the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to put an end to such claims -- it's quite another action to single out an actress and demand she stop doing something they do not agree with, especially in issuing a very public press release. If there are others like me, this PRCM effort might backfire, simply because of the tactic of going after an individual and attempting to pressure them into behaving in any certain way. It's strikes me as immature bullying. And that's too bad, because the PCRM has a good point regarding the dangers of dairy.