The first part of this article can be found here.
PETA, or people for the ethical treatment of animals, have rebirthed their Got Autism campaign. In the previous article we discussed how they had used two relatively small studies to substantiate their claim that autism was somehow exacerbated or caused by drinking milk, or eating dairy.
The Wire online wrote:
The science is bad, but if cutting out casein might help kids, then some parents were okay with the information being publicized. “There are not a lot of things you cannot control in autism, but you can control your child’s diet,” one parent said. “I think that anything that sheds light on the autism crisis is awesome.” Which is exactly why this campaign is so irresponsible.
Emma Willingham a regular contributor to Forbes wrote:
“Taking a page from the Autism Speaks playbook, PETA goes deep with the offense on this. In their fervor to protect cows from being milked and to make consumption of animal products look like the work of Lucifer instead of hungry, omnivorous primates, they failed to notice that they are campaigning on the backs of people. People with autism. Pro tip, PETA: It’s not a good idea to demonize people with disabilities to further your cause.
After expressing how unsurprising it is that dairy products “worsen this disease,” PETA claims that cow’s milk is “strongly” linked to cancer, Crohn’s disease, and other serious health problems … that don’t have anything to do with autism, but why get all scientific about it now? Oh, let’s go ahead. Steven Novellaprovides the appropriate scientific evidence, which actually suggests a protective effect of milk against some cancers and preliminary and limited evidence linking dairy and Crohn’s. I guess it depends on what your definition of “strongly” is. PETA’s definition of a strong link appears to be “occurs in the same sentence.” In that case, let me assert that PETA’s entire anti-dairy, anti-autistic campaign is strongly pseudoscientific.”
In the UK, Damian Thompson of the Telegraph wrote:
“It isn’t surprising that dairy products may worsen this disease, considering that milk has already been strongly linked to cancer, Crohn’s disease, and other serious health problems nice bit of worthless scaremongering there. Anyone who wants to alleviate or avoid the devastating effects of autism should give cow’s milk the boot and switch to healthy vegan alternatives instead. In other words, Peta is claiming – apparently on the basis of zero peer-reviewed research – that cutting out dairy products is a necessary condition for alleviating or avoiding autism. To learn more about a diet free of dairy products, order our free “Vegetarian Starter Kit” today.What a surprise. “