Britain 'Cuts the Cheese' January 8, 2007

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British officials aren't always that great (take, for example, the killing of bears for hats), but sometimes they get it right. The Office of Communications (OFCOM)—which is sort of Britain's version of the FCC—has banned broadcasters from running ads for cheese during children's programs or programs which have a large number of child viewers. (OFCOM also banned ads for hamburgers, ham, and sausages among other junk foods.) Cheese companies and dairy farmers are, not surprisingly, very upset about this ban. Apparently no one has told them that milk is for baby cows.

Here's the story from the Manchester Evening News:

NEW advertising rules which brand cheese as junk food have been slammed as 'dietary nannying gone mad'.

Anthony Gibson of the National Farmers' Union, said: "To suggest there is anything inherently harmful about cheese is absurd." He said the rules could threaten sales of cheeses at a difficult time for the dairy industry.

The rules, being introduced this month by television regulator Ofcom, will ban adverts for junk foods during children's TV programmes, or shows with a large proportion of child viewers.

(Read more ...)

Not only is eating cheese and other dairy products bad for your health, but more importantly, it's bad for animals. Cows—like all mammals—need to become pregnant in order to produce milk. Dairy cows are hooked up to "rape racks" and impregnated every year so that they will produce a steady supply of milk. Whereas in nature, the baby drinks the milk that the mother produces, farmers take the calf away from the mother cow and steal the milk intended for her baby. And what happens to the babies? That's right ... they're slaughtered for veal.

Growing up I was bombarded with ads for macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, cheese covered cheese ... it's disgusting to think about. Here's hoping that OFCOM's ban means that fewer kids will be eating cheese (and other nasty, unhealthy animal products) in the future.

-Noah

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