Hormone Labeling of Pa. Milk to End
US - Twenty years ago, John Harnish was happy if his cows each yielded 17,000 pounds of milk a year. These days, his 145 black-and-white animals are veritable dairy queens - producing a hefty 27,000 pounds each.
24 December 2007
2 minute read
If you don't like that, you won't like this:
As of Feb. 1 in Pennsylvania, consumers won't be able to tell the difference between milk from farms that inject their cows and milk from those that don't.
The state Agriculture Department has forbidden dairies that don't use the hormone from touting that fact on milk-bottle labels, contending it gives the impression that milk like Harnish's is unsafe.
It is the first such move in the nation, and the ensuing debate has spilled from the aisles at Whole Foods to the halls of Harrisburg, where the governor's office is reviewing the decision. The issue also has come up at hearings in New Jersey, though the state has proposed no change.
After extensive study, and 14 years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the hormone for use, there is indeed no proof that milk from injected cows is unsafe. But some researchers say questions about the drug's impacts remain unanswered.
And critics say its effects on bovine health - including an increase in mastitis, an udder infection - are reason enough to ban it. That's a key reason it cannot be used on cows in Europe and Canada.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
