Olympic stars unite for make mine Milk

An elite group of Olympic legends and British medal hopes for London 2012 have united to form ‘team Milk’, launched today as part of the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign.

Milk has always been an important part of the diets of Britain’s best athletes and as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games approach, milk will once again be the choice of champions. From next week, the athletic figures of established stars and ‘up and coming’ talent can be seen on milk tankers across the country, with activity also set to move in the retail sector early next year

Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis heads ‘team Milk’ and is joined by cyclist Ed Clancy, 110 metre hurdler Andy Turner, Paralympian sprinter and long jumper Stefanie Reid and freestyle swimmer, Jazmin Carlin.

All athletes join ‘team Milk’ knowing what it’s like to compete at the top of their respective fields. Denise Lewis took home a gold medal for the heptathlon in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games; World Champion and Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy is aiming for two more titles at the London 2012 Games, and Andy Turner is current European and Commonwealth Champion over his chosen distance.

Twenty-year-old Jazmin Carlin is fresh from her silver medal win at this year’s Commonwealth Games, while Stefanie Reid took home a Paralympic bronze medal for the 200 metres in Beijing and is current World Record holder for the long jump.

The inspirational athletes that make up ‘team Milk’ will convey the health benefits to be gained from consuming the ‘white stuff’, reminding everyone that most milk varieties contain less than 2% fat and are packed with nutrients.

Sandy Wilkie, Chairman of the Milk Marketing Forum, is thrilled with the line-up of sporting talent backing British milk. He said:

“Milk has always had positive associations with sport and is an important part of many high-achieving athletes’ diets. So it is a natural progression for the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign to support Great British talent in order to inspire families across the country to incorporate low fat milk as part of a healthy lifestyle.”

Denise Lewis OBE has remained in the public eye since retiring, she was a runner up on the 2004 series of Strictly Come Dancing and is now a pundit for BBC Athletics, she is also a mother of three and believes that milk is best for her family. She said:

“I love milk, I have done since I was a child and I have passed my love for milk on to my own children. Therefore, I hope that the ‘team Milk’ activity will encourage others to enjoy milk, whether it’s on their cereals in the morning, in an afternoon cup of tea or my personal favourite in a nice hot chocolate before bed.”

For Ed Clancy MBE, low fat milk is a vital part of his training regime. He said:

“Signing up for ‘team Milk’ was a no-brainer for me as milk is such an important part of my diet. After a tough training session I mix up a protein shake with semi-skimmed milk; it’s tasty, refreshing and helps to keep me at the top of my game.”

More stars are set to join ‘team Milk’ in the run up to 2012. For a video introduction to ‘team Milk’ visit www.makemineMilk.co.uk/teamMilk.

The ‘make mine Milk’ campaign was created by the Milk Marketing Forum, which is a consortium of leading dairy companies comprised of Arla Foods UK, Dairy Crest Limited, First Milk, Milk Link and Robert Wiseman Dairies, with support provided by Dairy UK and The Dairy Council. Of the 7.5 million total spend for the campaign, a third comes from European Union funding.

For news on the make mine Milk campaign, follow make mine Milk on Twitter @makemineMilk, join the vibrant Facebook community at www.facebook.com/makemineMilk, or visit YouTube at www.youtube.com/makemineMilkuk

• Milk is a nutrient-dense food which means that it is a healthy addition to any modern diet and is suitable for all members of the family from school kids to the elderly.

• Low fat varieties of milk have less than 2% fat which can make it a healthy choice in a climate of rising obesity. The low fat varieties of milk are:

• Fat free (skimmed milk)
• 1% fat milk
• 0.75% fat milk
• 1.5% – 1.8% fat (semi-skimmed milk)

• Milk contains nutrients which are important for bone health including protein and calcium. These nutrients are also important for dental health.

• The ‘make mine Milk’ campaign has been commissioned by Dairy UK’s Milk Marketing Forum. Of the 7.5m total spend for the campaign, a third comes from European Commission funding.

• The Milk Marketing Forum is a consortium of leading British dairy companies and milk co-operatives with administrative support from Dairy UK, and nutritional advice from The Dairy Council. Its members are Arla Foods UK, Dairy Crest Limited, First Milk, Milk Link and Robert Wiseman Dairies.

• Dairy UK is a trade association that represents the interests of dairy farmers, producer co-ops, milk processors and doorstep deliverymen. For more information visit www.dairyUK.org.

• The ‘make mine Milk’ campaign will run, initially, for three years in England, Scotland and Wales.

• The ‘make mine Milk’ campaign will be implemented by the London-based integrated agency, Kindred.

• ‘The White Stuff’ celebrity milk moustache campaign in Scotland was an initiative from the Scottish Dairy Marketing Company with support from the EC. By year ending December 2009, the long term decline in total fresh milk sales had been reversed with a significant increase of +3.4% in sales of milk in Scotland against the base year of year ending March 2003 (Source: Scott Montcrieff Independent Auditors)