Hormone used to increase milk production may soon be phased out
Consumers demand cleaner milk, voice concerns over RBST
10:03 a.m. Monday, April 16, 2007
Before it ever gets to your cappucino or your kid's lunch box milk starts out in dairies, like Californian Dennis Areias' Den-K Holsteins, Inc.
Areias injects his cows with the synthetic hormone called RBST.
"What it does it enhances her appetite to get her to eat more," Areias said. "The more she eats the more she will milk."
Use of the hormone increases a cow's milk production up to 15 percent.
But starting in August, Areias and other California dairy farmers have to stop using the hormone or pay a penalty. Supermarkets are now considering doing away with milk that has RBST.
Companies including Starbucks, Safeway, Kroger and Dean Foods are increasingly going RBST-free. They say consumers are pressuring them.
"Our attitude is if the consumer wants it and is willing to pay for it we are going to try and make it available to them," said California Dairies, Inc. Spokesman Richard Cotta.
Monsanto -- the manufacturer says -- there is no difference between RBST and non-RBST milk. It's FDA approved and no study has linked it to negative health effects in humans, but still parents are concerned
"I notice the girls hitting puberty a little earlier -- the ones who had a lot of milk in their diet. But that had the regular milk that had the hormones. And i didn't know if it was true or not, I just thought better to be safe than sorry," said parents Peter and Dee Steinfeld.
"It just makes sense to me to try and make sure that our food is as clean as possible," said consumer Jasimne Guy.
By years end most milk in California will be RBST-free .
"We are headed in the right direction with more and more companies saying they are not going to buy milk that's produced that way," said Food and Water Watch Spokeswoman Patty Lovera. "We think that's really good progress, and that more and more companies say no to this hormone."
And with so many dairy products produced this new way, it may be coming your way soon.
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