Mayo Clinic’s partnership with dairy poses conflict of interest, critics say The $60 billion dairy industry has a long history of finding ways to promote and protect dairy’s place in the American diet

https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/10/mayo-clinic-research-funded-by-dairy-industry-trade-group-questioned/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_GAvMukg5tilMGYaj--8VZWQGHEIO8cD1RnBEvp9G1Esz1uaxpERPixVwCRnvu1B33SUydiPJDdbUYC5HAQm5whIRCAg&_hsmi=350868643&utm_content=350868643&utm_source=hs_email In 2022, the Mayo Clinic signed a five-year partnership with a USDA program funded by dairy farmers and importers. Its mission: to promote dairy consumption. The collaboration includes research on dairy’s cardiovascular impacts and outreach “communicating dairy’s strong body of evidence,” a press release notes. The announcement didn’t draw much attention at the time, but now, the top-rated health system is drawing criticism for the deal’s potential to undermine Mayo’s credibility. So what happened? Earlier this year, the clinic launched a three-part podcast series on dairy as part of the partnership. It caught the attention of a local physician, who wrote in the Minnesota Reformer that the show provides the dairy industry a platform to present “an imbalanced perspective on dairy’s role in chronic health outcomes.” As they say — high jinks ensued. Read more from STAT’s Sarah Todd about the controversy, and what it illustrates about the industry’s ties to health organizations overall.