A2 milk launched five years ago and since then they have done their best to convince us all that, although of course it is not suitable for those with serious cow’s milk allergy, A2 milk is ‘freefrom’ and the rest of the world will benefit from drinking it. Which begs two questions.
One. Is A2 milk (from Guernsey/Jersey cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, camel etc) really that much better for us than than A1 milk (from ‘standard’ European cows)?
Two. How ethical/acceptable/safe/dangerous is their marketing?
The Allergy + FreeFrom Show‘s decision to accept A2 as sponsors for the café at Olympia two weeks ago prompted another round of social media ‘exchanges’ on the subject. Which, in turn, prompted Alex to look rather more closely at A2’s claims and ‘research’ – and, indeed, their marketing techniques. He is not too impressed with any of them.
So, for an answer to question one – read his comprehensive blog a2 Milk™: unsponsored content on his new AllergyInsight.com.
I also covered the subject in rather more general terms back in April 2012 when headlines not only suggested that A2 milk was the answer to all a milk sensitive’s woes, but that if they were still in trouble, then Daisy the genetically-modified-to-be-hypoallergenic New Zealand cow would sort them out.
As I pointed out in this piece, milk/dairy allergy/intolerance is a hideously complicated issue with hundreds of variables depending on proteins, epitopes, individual sensitivity, age, state of health, season, etc etc etc. And that is without adding the complication of lactose intolerance, so often confused in many sufferer’s minds, with milk protein intolerance.
So anything that adds to that confusion cannot be good.
As you will see from Alex’s blog, A2’s current marketing does indeed add to the confusion making claims that it is ‘freefrom’, ‘as nature intended’, ‘will resolve your lactose intolerance’ and more.
While savvy, allergy-literate milk sensitives and the mums of milk sensitive children will no doubt be able to chart a course through all of this, not all milk sensitives are either savvy or allergy literate. And given the complexity of the subject, there is no shame in not being able to get your head around it.
There has, therefore, to be a significant risk that some of the A2 claims could be misunderstood and that a seriously cow’s milk protein allergic person (or the parent of a seriously cow’s milk protein allergic child) will understand those claims to mean that the A2 milk safe for them – with possibly tragic results.
A2 have asked many times whether they can either enter or sponsor the FreeFrom Food Awards. We have always said no. And I am afraid that, no matter how helpful some milk intolerance sufferers may find the product in resolving their digestive issues, until A2 come up with a marketing strategy which we feel really protects genuine cow’s milk protein allergy sufferers, it will stay that way.
For guidance on the diagnosis of cow’s milk allergy for health professionals see the MAP Guidance
Also see this presentation at an Anaphyalxis conference in 2014 by Dr Trevor Brown.
Fine, but I avoid cows milk because of the growth factor content, having had oestrogen driven breast cancer. I thought that A2 milk came from cows whose calves were not taken from them at such an early stage as our normal British cows, and therefore the milk doesn’t have that growth factor problem. Is that correct? Is it better to avoid cows milk completely? And what about cheese?
I think that is a welfare issue and would have nothing to do with whether the milk is A1 or A2. It is presumably up to the individual farmer who they take there calves from their mothers. I am afraid that I really know nothing about growth factors and their relevance to cancer so would not be able to make any comment on that.