Pennsylvania to Ban Hormone-Free Milk Labeling

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2008/01/04/pa-to-ban-hormone-free-milk-labeling/
In Pennsylvania, though, big dairy producers are upset by smaller producers who do not use growth hormones in their cows or antibiotics in their feed, and give consumers this information on their package labeling (see image above). Now, I realize that the milk industry is cut throat competitive, and that even a small loss of market share can be significant for a diary or dairy farmer.

Pennsylvania is slated to be the first state in the country to not allow the kind of labeling above, claiming it is “misleading” regarding the safety of the products. The effort is being driven by a Secretary of Agriculture who used to run a dairy farm that used the hormones and antibiotics. So it’s not surprising that he’s supportive of the rule change:

State Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said he ordered the changes after hearing repeatedly from people in the dairy industry. He once used the hormone on his own dairy farm, though his family got out of the business in 1999.

Wolff said his move was prompted by several concerns. Among them: the inaccurate “hormone-free” labels that were uncovered in a departmental review, and other labels claiming that the milk came from cows not treated with rBST.

Those labels wrongly imply that other milk — from treated cows — is less healthful, he said. And with no commercial test to tell the difference between the two, consumers don’t know if the packaging is accurate, he said.

“Is there labeling that informs the consumer without implying that it’s a safer product?” Wolff said. “That’s what we’re looking at right now, and trying to determine if there is language like that that may be acceptable.” …



Safety? Do you see anything in the label above that touts the product as safer for you? No. What the labeling does is allow the consumer to make an informed purchasing decision.

around me.. and my manager said... see its hormone free... and I said its not the same and it still contains hormones.. you have to read the label it says no sig. amounts of hormones.. compound that gallon over a span of a childs life of drinking milk, and the amount of hormones are significant.

http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/bulletin.cfm?Issue_ID=745

all mammal milk has a certain amount of hormones even human breast milk. Growth hormones are not the same. It is added to the feed and injected in order to produce more milk for less money that is indeed dangerous. The public is very aware of those facts. I work in a grocery store and the majority of our customers will not buy a product if it has added hormones. Bottom line Monsanto was losing moines because the general public does not want genetically engineered food, milk is not the only place this is happening....got eggs, beef or veggies

here is where the danger lies if we took away labeling....

"There is abundant evidence that, when cows get mastitis, farmers give them antibiotics. Mastitis (or the pus it puts into milk) is a major cause of lost revenues to dairy farmers. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), FDA has approved use of 30 antibiotics on dairy cows but an additional 50 antibiotics are suspected of being used illegally on dairy cows. A 1988 Illinois survey found over 200 different animal drugs on dairy farms, 58% of them not approved for use on dairy cows. Furthermore, the routine tests that FDA applies to milk nationwide can only detect 4 types of antibiotics, so FDA is not in a position to protect consumers from illegal use of antibiotics (which are sold without prescription at farm supply stores). Antibiotic residues in milk --which seem certain to increase with rBGH use --may cause adverse allergic reactions in some consumers, and very likely will contribute to development of strains of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, thus reducing the effectiveness of antibiotic medicinals against human and animal diseases.<12> "

no one has a problem with labels that inform you that there are peanuts in the product...since farmers who use antibiotics an hormones won't put warning labels on their product I don't understand the objection to farmers who let you know they don't use this profit driven practice on their farms.

They tried to do the same thing in Maine a few years ago...

http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbgh/monsanto_rbgh_maine.cfm

They settled out of court...

http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2007/11/pennsylvanias-m.html

vegan because of it. She won't even touch ketchup because she said everything is so filthy, chemmed-up, etc. Even a piece of chocolate cake gave her a what I describe as a hangover.

Yes, yes I do!

See those CAPITALIZED words? They do that so they pop out at you! See that word "DANGEROUS"? What do you think that means? It means that the OTHER GUYS use DANGEROUS PESTICIDES.

So please, don't be naive! This label is CLEARLY meant to imply that this milk is safer! What that label does NOT do is "allow the consumer to make an informed purchasing decision." Is there a website address there linking to more information about GROWTH HORMONES? No, there's no information there at all. Just CAPITALIZATION and the word DANGEROUS!

That being said - I only buy organic milk with that label on it. I won't buy milk that doesn't have that. And I pay a good bit more for it. But I do that because I am ALREADY an informed consumer. Making it illegal to have any kind of labeling is just dumb and won't fly in the long run. I can, however, understand why the industry does not want to have to compete against the word DANGEROUS. And they have the industry insiders to do something about it. And they will lie and cheat to get what they want. But please don't act like that is a totally neutral label...

in fact I have a milk allergy.

It's about information - but that's too dangerous to the big money dairy corporations (sorry, I can't call them farmers after this). Tell the customer that X has hormones and Y milk does not. Let them decide for themselves if that is something they want in their milk without implying that one is healthier than the other.

Really he's worried about the absence of information about the shit they put in milk and the conclusions that people will draw from it when they compare the hormone-free milk with the other milk and start wondering about those hormones. No one is
saying hormone-free milk is better or healthier for you, but he's rightly worried that people probably would prefer not to have the "bonus" products in their milk. So his lame argument is don't give the citizens of his state any information at all because it might confuse them. And I thought these big business types were all about personal responsibility. Talk about a "Nanny State"... don't want to confuse the sheeple.

Why couldn't the hormone-free farmers say that by NOT printing all the added ingredients the dairy corporations use in their milk and puting that on the label then that is saying that antibiotics and hormones are HEALTHY for the citizens of Pennsylvania?
If telling them that a product doesn't have hormones is implying that the product is healthier that way, then doesn't not telling them imply that all that extra crap IS healthier than the milk without all the junk in it?

:shrug:

Their presence in milk and other dairy products has led to anti-biotic resistance in germs. To me that is potentially more dangerous than some hormones. But I would rather drink milk and eat cheese that have neither.

It seems that nobody in politics or the major media is quite sure whether waterboarding is torture, or whether they were informed of this or that, or just what their signature on a memo really means. But put 12 words on a carton of milk, and everyone knows exactly what it means, every intention behind it, and every implication that can be drawn, and that it's bad, Bad, BAD!

The mind boggles.

...since the label correctly states something about the product, and does not say anything about other products. How can it be Constitutional to prevent printing of a true statement about the product on its label? I don't get it.

And before you go on about how the label isn't "neutral", who gives a sh*t? It contains true and factual information for the consumer. It is a market differentiator, so of course they play up the difference! Let consumers decide whether they want to pay a few cents more for the non-BGH milk, or pay less and not worry about the growth hormones.

at least we know what we eat over here. :eyes:

I didn't believe the claims. I started to have some unusual medical problems. My GYN doctor stated she could not find any medical reason for my problems, I went to another doctor for a 2nd opinion and again there was no definitive reason. After talking to some family members in the medical field I decided to change to hormone-free Milk. Not only has my body stop having the previous problems by my spouse realized he wasn't lactose intolerant but chemical intolerant. It’s nice having a spouse that does not have flatulence. My spouse has never seen a reason to substitute one chemical (Lactose free milk) for a chemical filled milked. Since he started drinking hormone-free Milk his whole system has changed. He wasn't lactose intolerant just chemical intolerant. The folks in PA and the surrounding states need to stand up and stop this mess. There's a reason most meat and milk produced in the U.S.A. CAN'T be exported to europe - CHEMICALS.

P.S. I don't need labels to tell me if it's chemical, free my body does a hell of good job doing that to bad I have go through the trial and error to find the hormone-free Milk.

1st Source - The original article

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/12784082.html
By Tom Avril
Phildelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Contact your state representative or you grocery chain (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Saveway or Giants) to file your complaint. Spread the word. The demand for chemical free milk should drive the market not farmer's profit line.

They don't sell milk with rBst..no antibiotics and no hormones. The Milk doesn't carry a label but their is a big sign above the milk guaranteeing rBst free milk and dairy products.

Contact their state representative or their grocery chain (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Saveway or Giants) to file a complaint and spread the word. The demand for chemical free milk should drive the market not a farmer's profit line. The state delayed the implementation until Feb 1st becuase of the outcry. Get the word out and do not buy milk if the labels do not mention the hormones.