A group of doctors wants U.S. health regulators to require breast cancer warning placed on a popular dairy product.
Petition Asking For Breast Cancer Warning Added On Cheese Labels
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which consist of 12,000 medical professionals, submitted a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug administration asking for breast cancer warning to be added on labels used in cheese products.
The doctors said that high-fat dairy product consumption is linked to increased breast cancer mortality rates in women who were previously diagnosed with the disease.
Hormones In Cheese Products Linked To Higher Breast Cancer Mortality Risk
In its petition, the PCRM provided an example of a cheese warning label that can appropriately inform and warn consumers of the potential risk of ingredients, particularly reproductive hormones, present in cheese products.
Studies have found that the trace amounts of estrogen in dairy products become more concentrated during the process of converting milk to cheese. Estrogen is linked to increased risk of dying from breast cancer among women previously diagnosed with the disease.
"The Physicians Committee requests that the Commissioner require manufacturers to include the following notice on the product packaging and labeling of all dairy cheese products: Dairy cheese contains reproductive hormones that may increase breast cancer mortality risk," the petition reads.
Warning Instead Of Pink Ribbon
PCRM president Neal Barnard said that instead of cheese manufacturers placing pink ribbon on their products, like what they do during Breast Cancer Awareness months, they should instead be adding warning labels.
"We want women to be aware that dairy cheese could put them at risk of dying from breast cancer," Barnard said.
The petition was submitted on Oct. 3, in time for the celebration of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Breast Cancer
Breast cancer remains one of the top causes of death among women in the United States.
2016 figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that there were 41,487 women who died of breast cancer in the United States.
