What Evil Lurks In A Bottle Of Milk? Bothell Man Sues Over `Addiction'

Norman Mayo, 61, claims he's a "milk-a-holic." And he says he's been hooked since he was a kid.

"I drank milk like some people drink beer or water, probably," said the Bothell man. "I've always loved a nice cold glass of milk, and I've drank a lot of it."

So much of it, in fact, that Mayo claims the fat content in the type of milk he drank clogged his arteries. And he thinks that's why he suffered a minor stroke three years ago.

Mayo believes it might not have happened in the first place if there had been warning labels on high-fat milk and some other dairy products.

He's filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Safeway and the Dairy Farmers of Washington. He wants Safeway to be required to put warning labels on all its dairy products, as well as similar warnings on all dairy industry ads and commercials. He's also asking for reimbursement for his medical bills and unspecified compensation for personal injury.

"It's my opinion that the dairy industry's to blame," he said. "They push their dairy products without warning you of the hazards.

"I feel like I'm slapped in the face every time I see one of those milk ads with the smiling face."

But why Safeway stores?

"They're the ones I spent the most money with, let's put it that way," he said.

Mayo says he's unemployed and doesn't have the money to hire a lawyer.

He paid the $150 fee to file the suit himself at the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle a few days ago and is seeking certification as a class-action case to include anyone else who thinks he may be addicted. The case is being referred for review to a federal magistrate judge , who could recommend that a U.S. District Court judge hear the case or dismiss the suit as frivolous.

Safeway has not yet responded to the suit. Neither has the Dairy Farmers of Washington.

"I'm pretty sure we would plead not guilty and suggest this is without merit," said Blair Thompson, communications manager for the Washington Dairy Products Commission.

"There's no evidence, so far, that milk contains a substance that is physically addicting. Maybe it could be a learned thing, and that might be what causes a craving, but chemically I know of nothing in milk that is like other substances of abuse," said Akira Horita, emeritus professor of pharmacology and psychiatry in the University of Washington Medical School.

Mayo sees a precedent in tobacco.

"If tobacco products can be required to have warning labels, why not dairy products?" says Mayo, himself a former smoker. "I say, hey, let's look at it philosophically. I think milk is just as dangerous as tobacco."

But Jon Ferguson, chief of the antitrust section in the state Attorney General's Office and a lead counsel in Washington state's lawsuit against the tobacco industry, doesn't buy the comparison.

"First of all, there's no substance in milk that has addictive pharmacological properties," Ferguson said. "Secondly, to the extent that there's a health risk associated with milk, if there is, there's no instance that I'm aware of where any milk producers have conspired to try to convince the public that milk has no possible adverse consequences."

Plus, he adds, there are all kinds of alternative products - low-fat, nonfat and soy milk and the like - on the market.

Since his stroke, Mayo says he only drinks nonfat or skim milk.