MOUNT VERNON — Controversy continues to swirl around the issue of labeling milk products as “free of artificial hormones” if the milk comes from cows that are not given such hormones to boost their production. Some retailers in Ohio have recently taken to using such labeling on milk products and demanding that their suppliers provide them with milk not produced under the influence of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH, or, more technically, rBST, recombinant bovine somatotropin), which is made by manipulating naturally occurring growth hormones extracted from cattle.
The labeling issue has angered a number of Ohio farmers who use rBGH to boost milk production of their herds, as well as Monsanto, the large agribusiness corporation which manufactures the hormone under the brand name Posilac. Labeling opponents state that there is no chemical difference between the milk from rBGH cows, and those not treated with the hormone.
As the News first reported in November, the Ohio Department of Agriculture has been reviewing the labeling situation, and expects to release a ruling by the end of the month. The fear which those against labeling express is that it creates the impression that there is something wrong with the use of rBGH. Those for labeling say that consumers have a right to know how their milk is being produced.
Marcie Blubaugh of Amazing Graze Farm in Utica is firmly against rBGH.
“I firmly believe that if it is going to be used, it is my right as a consumer to know it’s in there,” Blubaugh said. “If somebody else wants to use it and sell their product, my family and I don’t have anything against that, but we feel like we have the right to know it’s in there.”
“I’m all in favor of free speech and the consumer’s right to know,” said Knox County cattle farmer and nutritionist Lyle Ruprecht, “But in this case, it’s not good if the process of labeling actually prohibits choice.” Ruprecht, who is on the ODA labeling review committee, said that there are only about 10 major dairies in the state of Ohio. If even a few major chains convert to wanting exclusively rBGH-free milk, it could require these dairies to force their suppliers to stop using rBGH. Thus, farmers would lose their choice of whether or not to use the artificial hormone, and consumers would have no choice about what milk they buy, as non-rBGH milk would be the only kind available. Lacking the production boost of rBGH, this milk would cost somewhat more than current supplies.
Retired pulmonary respiration therapist Bill Donaldson, who lives between Danville and Killbuck, has been following the labeling issue closely, attending all the meetings. He is concerned that as far as he could tell, all the farmers on the ODA committee were rBGH-users. He also alleged that a “concerned consumer” on the committee had previously worked for Monsanto, the corporate entity which would benefit most from an anti-labeling rule being applied in Ohio.
Donaldson also feels that many dairy farmers are fighting the labeling issue because they have grown out-of-touch with what consumers want.
“I think the unfortunate thing is that these guys lost their market,” Donaldson said, adding that he feels sorry for them in that respect. But he said it also reminds him of how the huge American auto-makers almost went under in the 1970s and ’80s because they scornfully dismissed the inroads that foreign cars were making in the U.S. market and insisted on continuing with business-as-usual practices.
Donaldson and Blubaugh do not appear to be the only ones with doubts about rBGH.
The Cincinnati-based retail giant Kroger is in the process of converting its supply of milk for its house brands to non-rBGH sources. While they will still be selling milk from major dairies which may be produced with rBGH, the store’s house brands, such as “Kroger” and “Active Lifestyle,” will be entirely free of manufactured hormones by Feb. 19, according to Kroger spokesman Dale Hollandsworth.
“There is an increased interest in health and wellness in consumers,” Hollandsworth said. “You can see that with the growth of natural and organic products.” Hollandsworth said that this response from Kroger customers is why the chain decided to opt for rBGH-free milk, though they have not announced plans to label their packaging as such. According to Hollandsworth, Kroger will respond to what their customers tell them they prefer.
Ruprecht said that for anyone who wants milk produced without the use of rBGH, current organic standards cover that. He said that any milk produced organically is rBGH-free by definition and that consumers should purchase that if they wish, instead of forcing labeling into the general market.
“It creates the false impression that there’s something wrong with rBGH milk,” Ruprecht said, adding that if there was something wrong with rBGH-boosted milk, it would have been obvious by now, 15 years after the artificial hormone was introduced into the national food supply.
“If there’s nothing wrong with it, and it’s not harmful, why do they want to hide that it’s in there?” said Blubaugh.
Donaldson was likewise unimpressed with Ruprecht’s 15-year figure. He said that when he was a respiratory therapist, he often didn’t see the emergence of smoking’s harmful effects in a patient’s lungs until 20 years after the patient started smoking; nonetheless, those effects eventually proved to be devastating.
Donaldson added that the FDA does not say there’s no difference.
“They say that there’s no significant difference,” Donaldson said, pointing out how much hinges on the meaning of “significant.” Donaldson said that anyone who wants to experience the supposedly non-significant difference between different kinds of milks should sample milks and cheeses from specialty farms and dairies that use milk from grass-fed cows with no artificial hormones. He said the difference in flavor is obvious. If such obvious compositional differences are not addressed by the FDA, he wonders what else they might be missing simply because they are not looking for it.
Blubaugh said that the complaints and worries she has heard have been growing in the last few years.
“I seem to be a clearing house for a lot of complaints from people,” Blubaugh said. “I have heard a lot.” She noted that one frequently expressed concern is that some consumers fear artificial hormones cause early-onset puberty in human females.
Ruprecht said that rBGH shouldn’t be blamed for the accelerated physical development of young women in recent years.
“It’s a matter of calorie balance,” Ruprecht said, pointing out that in recent decades, America’s young people have seen intense caloric rises in their diets, thanks to eating more fast food and more packaged food, while becoming less and less physically active, resulting in an accelerated physical maturing process. Ruprecht said that milk shouldn’t be blamed, as it carries much less estrogen than many plants.
Ruprecht also noted that people tend to have a bad reaction to the word “hormone.” As he points out, a hormone is nothing more than a chain of amino acids.
“Vitamin D3 is a synthetic hormone added to milk,” Ruprecht said, “But no one’s objecting to that.”
Donaldson remains unconvinced that the ODA and Ohio’s farmers are really listening to consumers’ concerns.
“They think that the only people that care about information like rBST or hormones are the radical animal activists,” Donaldson said. “But that isn’t the case anymore.”