April 17, 2008

Producers concerned about illegally labeled milk

STAUNTON—Virginia dairy producers are concerned that consumers are being misled by certain label claims used to market milk.

Products labeled with such statements as “hormone-free” or “no hormones” are considered absence label claims, said John Beers, dairy services program supervisor for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Dairy and Foods. Right now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have any guidelines about the labels, but “a statement on a product saying ‘no hormones’ is illegal,” Beers said.

“That statement is misleading, because all dairy products have naturally occurring hormones,” and milk cannot be processed in a manner that renders it free of hormones, he explained.

He recently told a group of Virginia Farm Bureau dairy producers how to report suspected mislabeled product containers and point-of-sale materials to VDACS.

“We’ll check the plant’s permits, and if the product is labeled wrong, then the production plant will be notified and asked to remove the labels,” Beers said.

The FDA already has sent warning letters to a handful of manufacturers of whole milk, reduced-fat milk and ice cream informing them that their products are misbranded because the labels contain false statements.

Prior to approving recombinant bovine Somatotropin, or rbST, in 1993 the FDA determined that the genetically engineered hormone is virtually identical to a cow’s natural milk-stimulating hormone, bST. Therefore, the FDA concluded, producers have no basis for claiming that milk from cows not treated with rbST is safer than milk from rbST-treated cows.

However, the agency says manufacturers who do not use milk from cows treated with rbST can label their products with that information. The FDA has issued guidelines that suggest those manufacturers use the statement “from cows not treated with rbST.”

Pittsylvania County dairyman Tommy Motley said he doesn’t have a problem with manufacturers labeling their dairy products that way.

He said most dairy producers in Virginia have signed affidavits stating that their cows are not treated with rbST, and knowing that might make consumers feel better about buying their products.

Contact Beers at 804-786-1452.