rbST controversy stems from “uninformed consumer”
By Dairy Herd staff  |  Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Efforts to label certain milk as “rBST free” are not consumer inspired, but rather a move by marketers to put different types of milk in the store in order to gain premium pricing in some cases.

That, according to Terry Etherton, head of the dairy science department at Penn State University, helps explain why we are increasingly seeing three types of milk in the grocery store:

• Conventional
• r-bST-free
• Organic

But all milk is equally safe for consumers, Etherton told a group of dairy producers in Breese, Ill., on Monday. “Milk from cows supplemented with rBST is the same as milk from non-supplemented cows,” he said.

Approximately 100 people attended the meeting, prompted by recent controversy surrounding recombinant bovine somatotropin. Event organizers encouraged the producers to get involved so that the matter isn’t decided by default by other people. Among other things, they encouraged producers to contact the directors of their milk cooperative.

Ed Mullins, CEO and executive vice president of Prairie Farms dairy cooperative in Carlinville, Ill., told the group that Prairie Farms may segregate a portion of its milk supply to be sold as “rbST-free.” He said two of the cooperative’s 24 processing plants would handle this milk.

“We’re not trying to stop the technology you are using,” he told the producers. “But we have a huge consumer base that’s asking for BST-free milk.” (Later, he acknowledged that about 10 percent of the Prairie Farms consumer base is either demanding BST-free milk or would like to know when BST-free milk will be available to them.)

“The problem stems from an uninformed consumer that doesn’t understand this whole issue,” Mullins said.

 

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