Jan. 23, 1962 - President Kennedy told the public today that its milk supply “offers no hazards” either from radioactive fallout or cholesterol content. Mr. Kennedy told the National Conference on Milk and Nutrition that milk was so delicious and nutritious that he had ordered it served at all White House meals. The President concluded his 15-minute address in the Departmental Auditorium in Washington with a toast — in milk. He spoke against a background of serious concern in the Department of Agriculture, sponsor of the one-day conference, about a drop in milk consumption last year. The President said it was “unfortunate” that there had been “an identification in the minds of some between fallout and milk.” Mr. Kennedy said: “Detailed guidelines to protect the health of people against radiation have been developed by the Federal Radiation Council. It is abundantly clear that for the foreseeable future there is no danger from the present amount of exposure. The milk supply offers no hazards.” Mr. Kennedy said that “the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council has concluded, after intensive research, that the association of milk consumption and coronary disease due to an increase in cholesterol level has not been sufficiently established to justify the abandonment of this nutritious element, except where doctors have individually prescribed special diets for those found to be susceptible to special cholesterol or coronary problems.”
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