PETA Calls On Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathons to Stop Promoting Chocolate Milk

Group’s Vice Presidents—Who Are Also Marathon Runners—Suggest Healthier, Kinder Options for Athletes

For Immediate Release:
May 5, 2014

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Shocked that an organization as purportedly health-focused as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series would partner with the Milk Processor Education Program’s REFUEL/”got chocolate milk?” campaign, two PETA vice presidents, Tracy Reiman and Lisa Lange—who have completed multiple Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathons—sent a letter this morning calling on the race series’ parent company, Competitor Group, to nix the partnership in favor of promoting healthy performance and recovery drinks that don’t perpetuate the mistreatment of animals.

As Reiman points out in PETA’s letter, cow’s milk—which is loaded with artery-clogging cholesterol—is a poor nutritional choice for athletes. Many of the studies claiming that milk is an effective sports recovery beverage were at least partially funded by the dairy industry, and multiple unbiased nutritionists have disputed this claim. Furthermore, many athletes are disgusted by routine dairy industry practices such as burning or gouging calves’ horns out of their heads, cutting off their tails, and punching holes through their ears—all without painkillers.

“As the vegan athletes at PETA know, plant-based recovery products—unlike fatty and sugary chocolate cow’s milk—are healthy, effective, and free of animal suffering,” Reiman says. “For the sake of their runners and for the cows who are mutilated on dairy factory farms, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series should dump this dairy industry marketing ploy.”

While the consumption of dairy products is linked to acne, allergies, and cancer, plant-based recovery options—such as soy and hemp protein powders, CeraSport’s rice-based products, and Vega’s pea-based products, among many other plant-based products—are effective and have none of the health risks or cruelty associated with cow’s milk.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.