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Have you been mislead by a label or marketing showing false information?   Taking it one victory at a time   Alex Avery October 31, 2007 ACSH Agrees rbST-Free Milk Marketing Misleading   Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D. August 29, 2007 Unfair Dairy Pricing Trends   Alex Avery August 13, 2007 More           Subscribe to recieve updates from the Stop Labeling Lies Coaliltion                   NEWS   Taking it one victory at a time October 31, 2007   Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture struck a blow for truth in labeling and consumers last week.   More     ACSH Agrees rbST-Free Milk Marketing Misleading August 29, 2007   Marketers who use the "our cows aren't given rBST" approach are thus legally correct but scientifically wrongheaded. There's nothing unhealthful or dangerous (to humans or cows) from using rBST.   More     Unfair Dairy Pricing Trends August 13, 2007   Recently in his Animal and Dairy Sciences blog, Terry Etherton commented on the growing problem related to the pricing of dairy products marketed as “rbST-free” or “organic”.   More     Letter: Growth hormone scare is overblown August 12, 2007   I read with disappointment the announcement in The Augusta Chronicle recently by the Kroger Co. that they would no longer sell milk from cows that have been treated with rBST (a.k.a. recombinant bovine somatotropin, or growth hormone sold under the brand name Posilac). The reason stated was that customers of the grocery chain have preferred purchasing milk "free of hormones and antibiotics."   More     Marketers are putting the 'BS' into rBST August 12, 2007   Dairy farmers who purchase the hormone see their milk production increase by about 15 percent. The milk is not different; there is just more of it…So why all the fuss?   More     Organic Farming: Can Organic Really Feed the World? Activism Disguised As Science August 09, 2007   CHURCHVILLE, VA—A new study published in an alternative agriculture journal has gained widespread attention by claiming that organic farming not only could adequately feed the world, it might even yield more food and require less farmland. It is a truly sensational claim.   More     Food Costs Increase and the Smoke and Mirrors of rbST-Free Milk Marketing Rolls On July 29, 2007   The most recent Marketbasket Survey has begun to track the prices of conventional milk, rbST-free milk, and organic milk. No surprises here - rbST-free and organic cost a whole lot more! More of the old “smoke and mirrors” marketing campaign of charging a whole lot more money for nothing.   More     Organic Food Fantasies Never Die July 27, 2007   The media is once again pronouncing organic food superior based on science fad and the findings of a single study taken well beyond what the evidence shows.   More     Reasons you should buy regular goods July 27, 2007   Are organic crops better for consumers and the environment? Read more of this article to find out.   More     He Only Saved A Billion People July 25, 2007   Only five people in history have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal: Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel ... and Norman Borlaug.   More     Don’t Cry Over rBST Milk June 29, 2007   : MILK occupies a special place in our lives and language. It has been dubbed “nature’s most perfect food,” and we speak sentimentally of the “land of milk and honey” and the “milk of human kindness.”   More     Global Warming? Climate Activists Credibility Gap June 21, 2007   Whether you believe in manmade global warming or not, you ought to question the bona fides of ClimateCounts given its roots — Stonyfield Farm’s dubious marketing and Fenton Communications’ fear profiteering.   More     Antibiotic-Free: Comments fly following Tyson's announcement June 20, 2007   Yesterday’s announcement by Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Ark., that it will market its fresh poultry as antibiotic-free, triggered several responses from at least one other poultry company and industry organizations.   More     rbST Bomb Drops in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania June 20, 2007   I got a bombshell dropped on me this past week when my milk inspector stopped by and said they had a meeting at our dairy (Swiss Premium Dairy, formerly Wengerts Dairy in Lebanon, PA), and have made a final decision to go 100% rBST free. As you may know, our dairy is owned by Dean Foods.   More     Drink your dairy June 04, 2007   Mary Smallsreed of the Tribune Chronicle addresses some of the many terms commonly used in milk marketing, such as rBGH/rbST, IGF-1 and “antibiotic-free.”   More     Bovine Growth Hormone: As harmless as Ol Bessie herself June 04, 2007   Growth hormones exist naturally in a dairy cow and in the milk she produces. The hormone, called bovine somatotropin (bST) or bovine growth hormone (bGH), is a determining factor in how much milk the cattle can produce.   More     Got Milk: Maybe, But Do You Know What Kind May 30, 2007   This article offers several terms and definitions associated with milk. Health aspects of milk are discussed. For most Kitsap County residents born before the Reagan era, milk was a fairly easy term to define. It's what one poured over cereal in the morning, added to oatmeal to make it creamy or was used to dunk cookies before eating.   More     Dairy farmer campaigns for rbST use May 25, 2007   "I am not an activist," says Carrol Campbell, a dairy farmer from Winfield, Kan. That is until recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST)-free milk began appearing in dairy cases. Since then Campbell has been talking to industry leaders, legislators, his dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), and the Kansas Dairy Association about his concerns.   More     Joe Mercola States Organic Milk has No Added Benefits; advocates raw milk May 15, 2007   Joe Mercola commented on the recent announcement that an organic milk surplus is expected this year, and questioned whether organic milk is any healthier for consumers than conventional milk.   More     Some New Research Has Me Wondering If I Need to Change My Raw Milk Consumption Patterns May 14, 2007   In response to an article from Harvard Magazine titled, “Modern Milk,” the following article and comments from subscribers of the Complete Patient blog who are in favor of raw milk consumption, like the blog owner, were mixed in their concern regarding the natural hormones present in all milk.   More     Propaganda at the public library May 09, 2007   What better way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon than at the movies?? It was during the introduction that I began to realize that I was about to watch a very one-sided story. The movie was about genetically modified foods.   More     Hormone-free milk ad is false May 04, 2007   Got synthetic hormone-free milk? How 'bout controversy? A milk marketing campaign by Associated Food Stores has riled several dairy farmers across the Beehive State and caught the eye of a state agency, forcing the Salt Lake City-based grocery cooperative to change its milk ads starting Sunday.   More     PDMP and NEDPA issue joint labeling appeal May 03, 2007   On Friday, April 27, the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania (PDMP) and the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) sent a joint letter to the Food and Drug Administration communicating the industry’s concerns about misleading advertising of dairy products. The letter was written on behalf of more than 350 members in the two organizations. Producer members of PDMP and NEDPA collectively own over 130,000 cows with farms of all sizes and represent a powerful presence in the dairy industry.   More     Ben & Jerry’s Embraces GM Ice Cream Protein April 25, 2007   According to an article published in FoodNavigator.com, Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, one of the most visible anti-biotechnology ice cream makers in the United States, has moved closer to gaining approval in Europe to use an ice-structuring protein (ISP) isolated from genetically modified yeast.   More     Organic farming is a fraud April 22, 2007   Earth Day is today, and you can bet there’ll be claims that organic crops are somehow “better” for planet Earth than conventional or biotech crops. But it’s the biggest misperception in agriculture.   More     More on the ABC News Report on rbST April 18, 2007   There has been more response to the ABC News report on rbST that ran on April 12, 2007. I had posted my initial response to the story in my Blog, “Got Any Idea What’s in Milk?” The focus of that that blog was to point out that the story was slanted and did not present the facts about rbST in an accurate manner!   More     Fashionable Fear April 06, 2007   There isn’t a drop of difference between milk that comes from cows that have received rBST and those that don’t. What makes the rBST controversy so infuriating is the fact that consumer demand is being manipulated.   More     BST: Is Ignorance Winning Over Safe and Sound Science March 22, 2007   On January 23 the board of directors of the nation's second largest dairy cooperative sent a letter to its members regarding the use of cloning and BST. So begins the lynching of sound and approved science.   More     Dairy farmers feel emergency March 20, 2007   AMHERST - Ted F. White doesn't have cable, the Internet or a car. The reason, he says, is that he's a Massachusetts dairy farmer.   More     Is love affair with organic milk curdling February 26, 2007   After years of paying a premium for supposedly healthier milk, shoppers are no longer buying organic milk in ever increasing numbers.   More     Cub Foods sued over beef labels February 23, 2007   Cub Foods allegedly has been mislabeling the meat for six years and sells as much as 50 million pounds of the wrongly labeled beef a year, according to the complaint, filed Thursday in Anoka County District Court. The lawsuit seeks class-action status for consumers who bought the misidentified beef at any Cub Foods store in the state for the past six years.   More     John Stossel: "Give Me a Break!" February 22, 2007   "Scared Stiff" expands on the idea we raised in my very first TV special, "Are We Scaring You to Death?"   More     Dairy producers concerned about losing rbST February 20, 2007   More than 100 dairy producers and people employed in the dairy industry crowded the meeting room and voiced their opinions on the marketing of rbST-free milk and the possible loss of artificial hormone as changing dairy technology.   More     No Need to Mooove to rBGH-Free Milk January 17, 2007   With frappuccinos and lattes already pushing $5, Starbucks is making changes that will cause coffee lovers to dig even deeper into their wallets -- needlessly. Starbucks has stopped using dairy products produced by cows given recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in company-owned stores in a few parts of the country... In an era when "chemicals" and "toxins" are being banned and eliminated from all sort of products without scientific proof such bans are necessary, Starbuck's move away from rBGH-supplemented dairy is unsurprising.   More     Dairy Producers Speak Out About rbST January 16, 2007   After being approved for over ten years, the recent move to ban rbST use caught us by surprise. It seemed in the distance, since the movement was occurring on the east and west coasts. Then, in September 2006 we came face to face with the issue when our local co-op board (Prairie Farms) began discussing a ban on rbST use.   More     Organic Activists Caught Manufacturing Fake News - Scientists Upset, Italian Newspapers Duped January 12, 2007   On December 26, the U.S.-based Organic Consumers Association posted a “news” item on their website claiming in a headline that new research found “wild bees reject biotech crops.”...the ESA has never issued any press releases on the 2005 research, let alone one that concludes that wild bees “reject” genetically engineered crops. In an official comment, the ESA says that “some people have mistaken [the Organic Consumers Association webpage] as a full news release from the Ecological Society of America, which it is not.”   More     7UP Drops "All Natural" Claim January 12, 2007   WASHINGTON---Cadbury-Schweppes will no longer market 7UP as “All Natural” according to a statement put out by the company. Rather, the company will highlight ingredients “for which there is no debate” over whether they are natural, which will obviously exclude the controversial factory-made sweetener known as high-fructose corn syrup. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) will drop a planned lawsuit against the company now that the misleading “all natural” claims will be halted. CSPI notified Cadbury-Schweppes of the possibility of a lawsuit in May and has discussed labeling issues with the company off and on since then.   More     The Organic Food Myth January 10, 2007   Organic food has more to do with choosing an eco-lifestyle than safer or more healthy products, writes Rob Lyons. A new book just published in the US, The Truth About Organic Foods provides a thorough examination of the evidence. The author, Alex Avery, shares Miliband’s conclusion that organic food is no healthier than ‘conventional’ food produced by industrial methods – and also argues that the claim of organic food to be better for the environment is suspect.   More     Dishing the dirt on organic food January 08, 2007   BRITAIN'S agricultural industry was split last night over claims there is no conclusive evidence that organic food is healthier than products grown by conventional methods.   More     Kraft is Sued for Falsely Calling Capri Sun Drink January 08, 2007   WASHINGTON—Kraft Foods, the maker of Capri Sun—foil pouches filled with a solution of water, high-fructose corn syrup, and small amounts of juice—is being sued by a Florida woman for deceptively marketing the product as “All Natural.”   More     'No Proof' Organic Food Is Better January 07, 2007   Organic food may be no better for you than mass-produced farm food, according to the cabinet minister responsible for the industry....On nutritional benefits, the minister said: “It’s a lifestyle choice that people can make. There isn’t any conclusive evidence either way.”   More     Organic Food Is No Better, Says Minister January 07, 2007   Organic food may be no better for you than mass-produced farm food, according to the cabinet minister responsible for the industry....On nutritional benefits, the minister said: “It’s a lifestyle choice that people can make. There isn’t any conclusive evidence either way.”   More     I'll have a cloneburger, medium rare January 05, 2007   Last week, the Food and Drug Administration said that cloned animals are safe to eat. This isn't a surprise, of course; cloned animals — the ones that live to term — are really no different than any other animal any more than a test-tube baby is different than a typical one.   More     Got Milk? Got Hormones? - Exploiting Food Fear January 02, 2007   The movement to mislabel milk "hormone free" hurts both dairy farmers and consumers....consumers pay more for a product that is not at all different from the cheaper product. Got milk? Got hormones? Got truth?"   More     What's the Beef? January 02, 2007   The preliminary decision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week to permit the consumption of food from cloned animals is a good one. If anything, it’s long overdue, because scientists have known for years that the clones are indistinguishable genetically, biochemically, and nutritionally from the parent. As one farmer who owns a pair of clones of a prize-winning Holstein cow observed, they are essentially twins of “a cow that was already in production.”   More     Bovine Growth Hormone December 21, 2006   Rich Maloof wrote an article for the MSN Health & Fitness "Reality Check" section about the myths associated with rBST. Rich Maloof reaffirms rBST's safety, noting specifically that the risks of injecting cows with rBST are unsubstantiated; dairy products from cows treated with rBST are identical to products from cows not treated, and that bovine growth hormones, while not actually ingested by humans, are harmless in human bodies.   More     Don't be Afraid of rbST December 18, 2006   It's time to get out of the Dark Ages. Rather than indulge in mindless fear, look at the facts. The use of rbST is not a cause for concern. Let science triumph over irrationality.   More     African-American Organization Urges FDA to Stop Deceptive Marketing of 'No rBST Milk' December 14, 2006   WASHINGTON, DC – The National Organization for African Americans in Housing (NOAAH), a non-profit advocate for low-income citizens, has called on the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to stop dairy processors from deceptively marketing “no rBST” milk, which is identical to other milk but costs more.   More     Bovine Somatotropin December 04, 2006   Bovine somatotropin (bST) is a tool used by dairy producers to enhance milk production and improve the efficiency of dairy operations. bST is a natural protein produced in the pituitary glands of cattle. Milk from cows receiving supplemental bST is unchanged.   More     Dairymen Organize to Protect Technologies November 07, 2006   SCHAEFFERSTOWN, Pa. – “There are very important things at stake,” said dairy practitioner Dr. Brian Reed of Agricultural Veterinarian Associates based in Denver, Pa. “Producers have a choice to use or not use technologies that are available. That’s what I’m here to talk about: not to cause conflict but to find common ground. I’m not here to argue the merits of rBST. That was done 12 to 15 years ago during the FDA approval process and in the day-to-day decisions on individual dairy farms. I’m here to reaffirm that all milk is safe, nutritious and wholesome.”   More     PodCast: Consumer Awareness of Biotechnology - Separating Fact from Fiction November 06, 2006   I had the pleasure of speaking at a meeting of dairy producers in Lebanon County, PA on October 25, 2006 about rbST-free milk, and the tactics that some milk cooperatives are using to force producers who use rbST to STOP supplementing cows with rbST. The highlights of this meeting were reported in depth by Sherry Bunting in the October 27, 2006 issue of Farmshine, and the reader of this Blog is encouraged to read this excellent article.   More     Today rbST—What's Next? November 01, 2006   HARRISBURG – Recently, there has been renewed attention on the use of rbST (recombinant bovine somatatropin), a synthetic version of the natural protein growth hormone in dairy cattle. Dairy producers can use this product as a herd management tool to increase milk production.   More     Frustrations Vented Over Questionable Milk Marketing Practices October 26, 2006   SCHAEFFERSTOWN, Pa. – Opinions without fact. Decision points without understanding. “We can scare consumers in a 30-second sound-bite, but we can’t educate them in 30 seconds,” said Dr. Terry Etherton, department head and distinguished professor of animal nutrition at Penn State University’s Department of Dairy and Animal Sciences. “Processors and cooperatives need to stand in the light of public understanding with some accountability. The “rBST-free” labeling (and the push to get producers to sign papers) is nothing but smoke and mirrors.”   More     Organic Milk Industry Reveals Hypocrisy October 05, 2006   Farm Aid benefit concerts are supposed to be about raising money to help family farmers. Last week’s Farm Aid event, however, seems to have had more to do with benefiting the multibillion dollar organic milk industry – at the expense of those same family farmers and the environment.   More     Food Fear is Anti-bST Marketing Tool September 25, 2006   Maybe it was an inevitable development. Dean Foods (annual corporate revenue in excess of $10 billion in the U.S.) has recently announced that it will no longer accept milk in some of its New England processing plants from dairies that use recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) in their cows...The truth is that milk from cows treated with rbST is the same as milk from cows not treated, but if you can create a fear in the public's mind that there is a dangerous difference, then you have a way to differentiate your product, capture market share and charge more for the same milk.   More     Raw Milk Recall Follows Four E. Coli Infections September 24, 2006   NORTH COUNTY ---- Four Southern California children, including two in San Diego County, have fallen ill with E. coli infections that the state thinks may have come from unpasteurized milk products sold by a Fresno dairy. The California Department of Food and Agriculture has ordered a recall of all raw products from Organic Pastures Dairy Company. Products affected include milk, buttermilk, cream, whey and colostrum, a special milk produced by cows shortly after birth.   More     Egg industry to drop logo September 21, 2006   WASHINGTON - The egg industry has agreed to permanently drop "Animal Care Certified" logos on egg cartons, after state officials and animal rights groups said consumers were being misled.   More     Food Agency Rejects Organic Milk Health Claims September 19, 2006   LONDON (Reuters) - The Food Standards Agency said on Tuesday that a study has concluded that organic milk does not provide significant health benefits over conventional milk despite higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.   More     'Organic' label little more than a marketing tool for food, critics say September 10, 2006   Washington — At the local supermarket, the organic fruit and vegetable display is a frequent stop for health-conscious consumers. But turn to the next aisle and shoppers are likely to find a different array of "natural" and "organic" foods.   More