A new nationwide campaign to promote the nutritional benefits and consumption of dairy produce milk will be rolled out from this April, Junior Agriculture Minister Tony Killeen has announced.Minister of State Killeen said the ‘Milk in Action’ programme, which is co-ordinated by the National Dairy Council (NDC), aims through linkage with sport to increase milk consumption by young people in particular.
He continued: “The programme will also inform women of the nutritional benefits of milk and milk products, in particular cheese and yoghurt, in the battle against osteoporosis. This initiative is especially timely as studies show that 43 per cent of Irish teenage girls and 23 per cent of Irish teenage boys do not have enough calcium in-take in their diet and that 23% of Irish women do not have sufficient calcium intake in their diets.”
The campaign is being implemented under EU Council Regulation 501/2008 on funding promotion and information programmes for agricultural products in the European Union.
Minister of State Killeen confirmed that the EU will shortly agree to co-fund the programme. Funding from Irish industry at 30 per cent or 145,000 euro a year approximately was a prerequisite to EU co-financing and the Department will contribute up to 20 per cent or 100,000 euro a year. “I wish to compliment the National Dairy Council which has drafted the proposal in co-operation with partners in Northern Ireland, England and Wales, and which will be responsible for overall management of the project”, concluded the Minister of State.
