Scientific Integrity

• Pursue research on behalf of the dairy sector to ensure quality and safety of dairy products, stimulate new product and ingredient innovation and to better understand the role of dairy foods in healthy, sustainable eating patterns.
• Adhere rigorously to accepted scientific principles, methods and conduct to guide study design, execution, data analysis, interpretation and presentation of results. Furthermore, the National Dairy Council commits to the research principles outlined by International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) in “Funding Food Science and Nutrition Research: Financial Conflicts and Scientific Integrity”.
• Research will be conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations for proper treatment of research subjects, animals, and materials, including review and approval of human and animal study protocols by accredited and appropriate institutional review boards.

Transparency

• Disclose freely the National Dairy Council as a funding source or sponsor of research in all types of publications.
• Results from National Dairy Council-funded research conducted at public institutions will be made publically available through publication in reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals, abstracts at scientific meetings, and presentations to professionals. Once the research is published results will also be communicated in ways that are truthful and not misleading to non-scientist audiences. Communication in these ways is encouraged for all research findings.
• Subject all National Dairy Council scientific research to USDA review and oversight as described in The Dairy Promotion Stabilization Act of 1983, 7 U.S.C.S. § 4501 et seq.

Public-Private Partnerships

• The National Dairy Council recognizes the value of public-private partnerships for advancing scientific research. The National Dairy Council also commits to the ILSI guiding principles for public-private partnerships outlined in “Principals for building public-private partnerships to benefit food safety, nutrition and health research” and that were further emphasized by the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research which emphasize honest communication, unbiased project selection, transparency, accountability, mutual trust and cooperation.

NDC reviews these guiding principles on an annual basis to ensure they remain relevant, appropriate and useful.