Avoid the whole issue by drinking soy, rice, or almond milk instead!

In his book Integrative Nutrition, Joshua Rosenthal discusses at length the connection between the U.S. government and the farming industry. Essentially, it is the government’s job (primarily the USDA) to support healthy eating by regulating the food supply and creating the food pyramid, which is supposed to help us consume a healthy, balanced diet. Unfortunately, because the meat, dairy and sugar industries are so powerful and wealthy, and can therefore donate to politicians’ campaigns, the issue is a little sticky. On one hand, members of Congress should be voting in the best interests of their constituents. On the other, the senators and representatives can’t afford to alienate the powerful supporters (and financial contributors) in these food industries. Which brings me to the latest outrage in the fight between health vs. politics/big industry.

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Agriculture, Dennis Wolff, has just led a successful ban on the labeling of hormone free milk. According to an article in the New York Times:

Late last month, Mr. Wolff announced a crackdown on “absence labeling” on milk, meaning labels that tell consumers what isn’t in a product rather than what is.

He argues that “hormone free” labels are misleading because cows produce hormones naturally. Even labels that are more carefully worded, such as “contains no artificial hormones” will soon be verboten in Pennsylvania because Mr. Wolff said that there were no scientific tests to prove the truth of such a claim.

His ban also extends to phrases like “pesticide free” and “antibiotic free,” which he maintains are confusing for consumers because they suggest that milk without those labels contains pesticides or antibiotics. In fact, he said, processed milk is tested repeatedly in Pennsylvania to make sure that it doesn’t contain those substances.

“It confuses them,” he said. “It seems to imply there is a safe, nonsafe dimension.”

A former dairy farmer, Mr. Wolff said he decided to look into the issue after he received calls from farmers complaining that they were being forced to stop using bovine growth hormone if they wanted to continue selling their milk to certain dairies. He also said his office had received many calls from confused consumers.

Mr. Wolff’s office could not provide surveys or research showing that consumers were confused by the issue, and was unable to come up with even one name of a consumer who had complained.

This is outrageous. Rather than letting consumers make informed decisions based on additives in food, the government has opted to remove the labels so that consumers must guess as to whether their milk has added hormones. What’s next? Removing the sugar content from candy bars so as not to offend the precious sugar industry?

For more info on the article, the effects of these hormones (both on people and the poor cattle upon which the drugs are inflicted), whether your state may be next in line to adopt these measures, and what you can do, click here.