Sharing the Dairy Scoop with Kroger’s Dietitians

 

About 9 million customers walk through the doors of The Kroger Co.’s 2,742 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 35 states each day.

Many of them have questions related to their food choices and they often turn to Kroger’s team of dietitians for answers and guidance.

Recently, those Kroger dietitians turned to the dairy checkoff to get the scoop on our industry.

State and regional checkoff teams American Dairy Association (ADA) Mideast, The Dairy Alliance, Dairy Council of Arizona, ADA Indiana and Midwest Dairy teamed with National Dairy Council (NDC) for a dairy download session with 35 corporate dietitians from Kroger.

It was our opportunity to share the latest on dairy wellness benefits, dispel some myths and tout the great work that our dairy farmers do every day with care for their animals and the environment.

The partnership also resulted in the creation of a booklet led by the state and regional teams titled “Eat Better, Eat Together with Real Dairy” that is available in 250 of the chain’s “Little Clinics” around the country. The colorful, 12-page booklet features dairy nutrition information, recipes and insights on the people who make it all happen: America’s dairy farm families.

Kroger’s dietitians direct the chain’s health and wellness messaging and are trusted go-to experts for customers, especially in these uncertain times. We know from checkoff-led research that taste, cost and convenience remain foundational priorities for consumers. But, increasingly so are other factors such as foods that support functional wellness benefits, including immunity, digestive health, inflammation and cognition. Consumers also want to know the foods they are buying were produced in a way that is good for the planet.

We were excited to bring the science to life on dairy’s relevance in topics of interest to consumers – immunity, cognition and inflammation.

Immunity certainly is in the headlines these days and it’s understandable given the pandemic. The Kroger dietitians indicated customers are asking about which foods can help promote a healthy immune system and this interest is unlikely to change anytime soon.

We shared how milk is rich in vitamins A, D, protein, zinc and selenium, all nutrients that support immunity, and that cheese and yogurt also are great sources of protein, and yogurt is a good source of zinc. We spoke about how dairy is super accessible, comes in many forms and is affordable. It’s great to see Kroger highlight several dairy foods on the immunity section of its website!

We then addressed cognition and spoke about how iodine plays an important role in brain and bone development during pregnancy and infancy. Milk contains 60 percent of the daily value for iodine and cheese and yogurt also are important sources of iodine. Kroger’s health professionals have an incredible opportunity to engage with moms and caregivers to set their child up for optimal brain development!

Inflammation was next and this was our time for some myth-busting. Dairy sometimes is wrongly targeted as a cause of inflammation when it can, in fact, reduce the risk for inflammation, considered a key contributor in the progression of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. We shared the results of research studies that show dairy foods and dairy proteins have neutral to beneficial effects on inflammation.

In a pre-meeting survey with the dietitians, we learned that antibiotics and hormones remain a subject they occasionally address with customers. We walked through the many checkpoints in place starting at the farm to assure antibiotics are not present in the milk that ends up for sale in their stores.

On the hormones front, we explained how most living things, including plant and animal foods, contain naturally occurring hormones. Both the FDA and World Health Organization conclude that consumption of these foods is safe.

Finally, as is the case with many discussions, we finished with the environment as personal health is aligned with planetary health for many consumers.

We reviewed how in 2008 U.S. dairy was the first in the food agricultural sector to conduct a full life cycle assessment (LCA) at a national level. We measured the carbon footprint from the farm through processing, transportation, packaging, retail refrigeration and all the way to the consumer’s home. Our comprehensive assessment found dairy contributes just 2 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The dietitians were pleased to hear about the continued commitment and progress farmers are making.

It’s critical these dietitians have the right evidence-based support for dairy consumption to share with their shoppers, and it speaks to NDC’s legacy as a dairy nutrition leader and our talented local checkoff teams that they turned to us to make sure they had the facts.

To learn more about your national dairy checkoff, visit www.USDairy.com or send a request to join our Facebook group. To reach us directly, send an email to TalkToTheCheckoff@dairy.org.