IGF-1, Milk and Cancer

The Internet is full of health scares and myths surrounding IGF-1 and cancer from dairy products. One particularly egregious false claim attempts to link IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) in milk and dairy products to cancer. Special interest, organic marketing and “junk science” groups use these misleading increased cancer risk claims, to scare consumers away. These scares specifically target women and children and ever-present online in activist group Web sites and unscrupulous organic and natural product marketing materials.

These claims, sometimes linked to the use of productivity supplements used by dairy farmers, are often promoted by pushing more expensive organic dairy or soy alternative products. These fear profiteers want consumers to ignore the simple truth that milk is milk and that dairy is a safe and important part of a well-balanced diet. Milk health aspects involving IGF-1 are often overlooked because of these fear campaigns. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop characterized these claims as “blatant falsehoods as part of a long-running campaign to scare consumers about a perfectly safe food… Because dairy foods are an important, widely consumed source of nutrition, it is necessary to condemn these attacks on the safety of milk for what they are: baseless, manipulative and completely irresponsible.”

Citizens for the Integrity of Science offers the following informational Web site providing credible and clearly sourced information from well-known experts, academics and respected professional groups on this particular issue of misleading IGF-1 and cancer links to milk and dairy products. Milk health aspects involving IGF-1 are a main focus of this Web site.