CNN - Debate over hormone-free milk rages on in Vermont

Debate over hormone-free milk rages on in Vermont

April 19, 1996
Web posted at: 8:15 a.m. EDT

CABOT, Vermont (CNN) -- A Vermont law requiring milk producers to label dairy products from cattle treated with a genetically engineered hormone is causing an uproar among local dairies.

At the center of the controversy is a blue sticker and a hormone called Bovine Somatotropin that causes cattle to produce more milk.

Dairies in Vermont are required by law to put a blue sticker on cartons of milk that comes from cows using the hormone BST. The law was designed to help farmers who did not use chemical supplements and to give consumers a choice between milk from BST-free cows and those that receive the hormone.

Controversy over the milk stickers is not new. A federal judge has upheld Vermont's labeling law, but the nation's dairy and food industries are appealing the decision.

The law was intended to protect consumers and dairies, but many farmers think the law is confusing customers and actually causing dairies to lose money.

Roberta MacDonald of the Cabot Creamery said the labeling has decreased sales of the Creamery's BST-free products. "For instance, in our cottage cheese, we're the only one in the case without a blue sticker. And we're locally made. And we're priced less. We're not selling anymore," MacDonald said.

MacDonald said the law puts an unfair strain on milk producers because other dairy products do not have to be labeled. Even though pizza cheese and baby formula are made from milk, she said, they are not required to use the blue labels.

Other dairy farmers worry that consumers are misled by the labels. "Sometimes you hear consumers say, 'Oh, well the blue means good, so I'm going to pick that up because that's fine," Folsom said.

Opponents of labeling believe it is unfair to place strict standards on Vermont farmers when dairies across the U.S. consider BST a safe supplement.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and other advocates of the law disagree. Ben & Jerry's pays extra to avoid BST milk in its products, because it believes consumers want more natural foods and less chemical supplements.

The Food and Drug Administration opposes Vermont's law. The FDA has approved BST's use and fears that labels will make consumers worry about a problem that does not exist.
From Correspondent Eugenia Halsey

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Debate over hormone-free milk rages on in Vermont

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