McConnell: Kansans entitled to know what’s floating in their milk

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By Cara McConnell

Thursday, March 5, 2009

What’s in a label? Milk with or without “additive-free” printed on the carton is still the same milk, right? At least that’s what proponents of a bill being discussed in the Kansas House Agriculture Committee seem to think.

The bill, which has been debated since November, strives to outlaw labeling artificial growth-hormone-free milk as such. The proposal would protect dairies that use controversial substances such as bovine growth hormone (BGH) to elevate milk production while withholding important information from consumers.

Of course, there’s a good reason BGH-free milk producers want to distinguish themselves from their conventional counterparts.

According to the Center for Food Safety, the majority of cows treated with BGH suffer from debilitating health problems such as lameness, reproductive problems, and, most importantly, a 25 percent increase in udder infections. Diseased udders, the source of your delicious unlabeled milk. Mmm.

To treat the infections caused by BGH, farmers have to pump their cows full of additional antibiotics, residues of which end up in the milk. This, of course, helps further the problem of antibiotic resistance among people.

Finally, BGH has been linked to an elevation in the levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1. Studies have shown that this hormone is passed on to the consumer and has been linked to increased growth of breast, prostate and colon cancer.

The FDA supports the use of BGH, but essentially no one else does. Since 2000, the European Union has made sales of BGH illegal, and it is not approved for use in Canada, Japan, Australia or New Zealand.

The reason BGH is still legal in the United States is not because we know its secret goodness. More likely, it is because of the incredible power of Monsanto, the agricultural biotechnology corporation that produces BGH under the brand name Polsilac.

Monsanto has done quite a job of pushing its products and silencing opposing voices, most notoriously in the case of two journalists in Tampa, Fla., who lost their jobs after refusing Monsanto’s request to alter a negative report on BGH.

Here’s the best part, though. Despite several states being targeted by Monsanto’s lapdog advocacy group, AFACT, Kansas is the only state that is still fighting over this ridiculous policy. Everyone else wants to know what is in their milk. In other words, Kansas is as backwards as you think. (You can have that bumper sticker slogan on the house.)

Whether because of consumer advocacy groups’ fear-mongering, as Monsanto claims, or from genuine concern about the safety of BGH, the USDA reports that since the introduction of BGH, organic milk has become the fastest growing segment of the organic market. Consumer demands have prompted companies such as Starbucks to use only BGH-free dairy products.

Regardless of the controversy about BGH, consumers have a right to know as much as possible about the contents of their food. This is especially true in cases where controversial practices and products are used. By passing this legislation, the Agriculture Committee decides for Kansas consumers whether to take a risk on BGH milk and thwarts the efforts of dairies that refuse to use such a harmful product.

— McConnell is a Dallas junior in English.

Comments

irishswearingen (anonymous) says...

Considering how much milk and milk related products are sold in the US, it might be impossible to meet the demand if BGH was banned.
Meat and dairy farms are so huge, I find them unbelievable. The animals are treated just like other consumer products going down the assembly line. But, these are living creatures.
I am a vegan and drink Silk soy milk.
Most of the soy beans raised in this country go to Brazil and China to feed animals.
It is clear that something needs to be done about this.
But, what, exactly?

March 7, 2009 at 11:44 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

irishswearingen (anonymous) says...

You go Cara! Stick to your guns!

March 9, 2009 at 10:20 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

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