Milk labeling battle heats up

Milk labeling is much in the news lately. One news account, by Dennis J. Willard of the Akron Beacon Journal succinctly summed up why:

“Whenever farmers or milk producers state their cartons are ''rbST-free,'' an acronym for Monsanto's artificial growth hormone recombinant bovine somatotropin, the ag-tech giant wants equal time on the label.”

The article went on to explain that Monsanto and the Ohio Farm Bureau have lobbied in Ohio to ensure ''rbST-free'' milk labels also contain a disclaimer in the same size and color typeface stating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found no significant difference between milk from cows injected or not injected with the artificial hormone.

Similar debates have erupted in other states, including Pennsylvania and Kansas. Newspaper editorialists have weighed in on the issue, and now a new trade group has come forward to try to sway the outcome.

That group is a producer organization, American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT). It says it seeks “to educate, equip and empower all participants in the food chain to understand the benefits of technology and encourage consumers to demand access to high-quality, affordable food with a minimal impact on the environment.”

The group was created in the fall of 2007, and received money from Monsanto, The New York Times reported.

“Despite years of testing, scrutiny and broad consumer use, processors in search of a marketing niche are increasingly calling into question the safety and environmental impact of many of the basic foods we consume such as milk, meat and produce,” the group said in a statement on its Web site.

“Through questionable labeling tactics and activism, marketers have convinced some consumers to doubt the credibility and safety assurances from of even the most respected food safety agencies and scientific oversight organizations,” the group said. “As a result, confused consumers shy away from foods produced using new technology, which in turn forces valuable management tools from the hands of farmers and ranchers.”

The group said it consists of producer volunteers from across the U.S., led by co-chairs Carrol Campbell, a dairy producer from Kansas, and Liz Doornink, a dairy producer from Wisconsin.