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A2 Corp now claims 'ordinary' A1 milk implicated in mild autism

29 April 2003

Auckland biotech entrepreneur Corran McLachlan yesterday launched sales of A2 milk in New Zealand, claiming it had the health benefit of not exacerbating mild autism in children.
 

But the A2 Corporation chief executive said he would be unable, in formal advertising, to promote the health benefit as a direct result of drinking his A2 milk.

A2 Corp has already taken a similar approach to promoting A2 milk in relation to juvenile diabetes and heart disease – marketing the milk as a "risk-free alternative" to standard milk produced by dairy giant Fonterra.

"A1 is the most powerful risk factor we've come across for heart disease – much more powerful than smoking," he said.

Milk from the cows of Fonterra's farmers – 95 per cent of the national milkflow – contains a mix of A1 and A2 beta casein proteins.

A2 Corp said its milk contained only A2 beta casein and has claimed the A1 protein is linked with the development of coronary heart disease, childhood diabetes and also implicated in some forms of autism and schizophrenia.

Fonterra last month asked the High Court at Auckland to strike out some claims made by A2 and a hearing has been set down for May 15 before a master of the court.

A2 Corp has alleged Fonterra suppressed research linking milk containing the A1 protein to autism, schizophrenia, diabetes and heart disease.

The claims have been strongly criticised by Fonterra, which said new scientific work failed to substantiate epidemiological studies on which Fonterra itself based a now-lapsed patent linking milk containing specific (A1) proteins with mild autism or Asperger's syndrome.

Dr McLachlan said A2 would have been happy to settle out of court, but anecdotal evidence it was getting in the wake of its Australian product launch – particularly on the effects of A2 milk for children with Asperger's syndrome – had left it happy to proceed.

"We've had fascinating information coming back, suggesting people have had a marked improvement – tantrums dropped from 30 minutes to one to two minutes, the kids could speak better....

"We are looking for parents of New Zealand children with Aspergers' syndrome, where we'll look at supplying them with A2 milk and they can try it out for themselves," he said.

Food manufacturers are legally barred from making therapeutic claims for their foods – such as being capable of curing illness – unless they substantiate the claims with scientific testing and register the food as a medicine. But there are no regulations to stop them from disparaging rival products.

New Zealand's Food Safety Authority (FSA) last month asked the New South Wales Department of Health whether there was any basis to take action on claims being made at the launch of A2 milk in Australia.

An FSA spokeswoman said the reply was no, because the claims were not being made on the product itself.

The FSA said last night it had called in an independent expert, former New Zealand Heart Foundation medical director Boyd Swinburn, to review all available literature on research of possible links between A1 milk proteins and heart disease or insulin-dependent diabetes.

FSA policy and regulatory standards director Carole Inkster said Dr Swinburn, now professor of public health nutrition at Melbourne's Deakin University, would also be looking at research linking beta casomorphin 7 (BCM 7) with asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia.

In the meantime, the FSA stood by its statements that milk was nutritious and beneficial and should remain part of a balanced diet.

Asked why it was not countering the claims of "ordinary" milk being an alleged health risk, Fonterra issued a three-sentence statement saying A2 Corp's claims were not backed up by valid scientific evidence.

"A2 Corp's claims about normal milk are irresponsible, not just because they may lead to people removing milk from the diet, but also because the science doesn't justify the claims," Fonterra chief technology officer Chris Mallett said.

A Fonterra spokeswoman declined comment on questions about potential difficulties over consumer reactions that would arise in Asia and the United States if the company was perceived as endorsing A2 milk.

A2 Corp yesterday launched sales of its milk through Progressive Enterprises supermarkets in Auckland and Christchurch, and today will start selling in Dunedin, with a wider roll-out by the end of June.

Between 20 per cent and 45 per cent of dairy cows on both sides of the Tasman already produce A2 milk, with the remainder producing either pure A1 milk or a mix of A1 and A2, but usually the various milks get mixed when combined at bottling plants.

A2 Corp plans to make its money out of providing $20 tests for farmers to genetically identify their cows producing A1 and A2 proteins, so herds can be licensed to produce A2 milk.

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