Organic Milk??

Ok I was raised on a organic farm. Organic means no hormones injected, no pesticides, no chemicals. with out the label stating it is Organic it is not... A farm must be free of chemicals for at least 7 years tested yearly to be certified organic (it may be longer since this was over 20 years ago and I think they have changed it to 10 years). The food fed to the animals must be orgnaic also. Each state has slightly different laws but the ultimate guide line is the federal hand book on organic farming. The companies saying their milk is "hormone-free" are just jumping on the band wagon to sell more product.

The "hormone free" milk isn't a correct term for milk to have- it should say something like "no ADDED hormones". It is not the farmers, it is the packaging companies who sell the milk to you. they are jumping on the band wagon, the milk is the same milk it has been for years.

All milk has hormones, it takes hormones to make milk. You simply can not have milk with out hormones, unless you are drinking a vegetable/plant based milk- and even then soy imitates estrogen- which may be worse for people than drinking regular cow's milk in some cases. some extremely large farms inject the cows with extra hormones to help them make more milk. the average small farm does not use these extra hormones

I grew up on a dairy farm, all of the farmers in our state are held to very HIGH standards. the entire tank of milk is tested before it is taken by truck, if there are are any chemicals, antibiotics, or anything else- the entire tank is dumped. We are talking hundreds if not near a thousand gallons of milk dumped. This is the farmer's only source of income- they are not going to risk dumping it.

as far as other "organic" food- remember that it is going to be more expensive because there is much less of it, farmers can not get near as much when half of their crop is killed by disease, insects, and who knows what else. Organic foods are grown using manure, not usually processed manure, just straight off the farm stuff. Your chances of getting e-coli or something like it are much higher with "organic" foods. If you buy produce and things grown in the USA- your products are much safer than products from other countries, here chemicals are regulated, in other countries, they can use pretty much as much as they want, then they ship it to us, and we consume it.

Your best bet- just buy local- don't be trapped buy the popularity of the term "organic"

L.:

First of all, let me tell you that "organic" and "hormone free" are not terms that mean the same thing as far as the FDA is concerned. Without getting into all of the fine print here, the FDA has regulations for what labels can say and even some of the things they label as "natural" or "organic" have other ingredients in them that are neither natural or organic.

If you're concerned about purchasing truly organic foods, then you want to look for the label that says "certified organic" because that is a higher quality (more restrictions, better standards, etc.) from the FDA's point of view.

Now, I have to respond here that I vehemently disagree with prior posts that the hormones are no big deal because they already occur in the animal. I'm going to give you a link to a recent article about this hormone (rBST or rBGH -- both made by mega-pharmaceutical company Monsanto) that raises some serious questions about whether or not this should be in our food supply. This is from the Organic Consumers Association, and they are a watch-dog consumers group that deals with all types of organic and health info -- and for good reason, given this article: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_11149.cfm

If you do any type of research on this, you will easily find that both Canada and the European Union have banned these hormones from their milk supply. Unfortunately, our pharmaceutical companies have huge money behind their lobbyists in Washington, D.C., so I don't wonder why it's still in (some of) our milk.

True, you pay more at the store for items that are grown with more care and fewer chemicals -- but I wonder what we'll pay in the long run if we just keep eating junk that includes additives, preservatives, hormones and the like.

And please don't assume that prior posts are correct when they basically tell you not to worry because the hormone already exists in the cow. Any woman who has taken birth control pills knows (or should have been told) that there are risks involved in taking synthetic hormones.

Likewise, there were thousands of aging women who were on Hormone Replacement Therapy (from the Premarin mares) who completely stopped when the HRT was linked to cancer and the like. I know humans and cows aren't the same -- but I'm not going to blindly assume that more of the same thing is good (or at least, nothing to worry about) -- especially in the case of what we're putting into our bodies.

By the way, I need to add here I'm by no means anti-milk or anything like that. My grandfather was a dairy farmer in southeast Michigan for many years and was respected for his practices in raising animals and supplying milk. I just want to see truth in labeling, and get the big-money folks out of the way of being honest. In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing my homework and research . . .

Best wishes!

Hi- I am a dairy farmer in Northern Michigan. The hormone you are referring to is rBST. This is a synthetic hormone that came out in the mid 90's. It is FDA approved. Farmers injected it into their cows, it made them eat more-therefore, give more milk. With all of the organic hoopla nowadays, many processors have requested their milk supply be "free of hormones". So, as of February 1, 2008 many of our milk cooperatives have asked that we go rBST free. I want to tell you that Bovine Somatatropine (BST) is a natural hormone found in Dairy Cows. This sudden trend of organic has gotten under the skin of many dairy producers as well as fruit and vegetable producers. We as farmers have to follow strict procedures to have our milk shipped into the food supply. We have USDA inspections as well as state inspections that we need to pass before shipping our product.
We can only use FDA and USDA approved medications on our farm to treat the dairy animals for various illnesses. Once an animal is on treatment, that milk can not go into the food supply. I have heard too many stories of organic farms not following the organic guidelines. They can still ship their "safe" product at a higher cost to the consumer.
There is major litigation right now going on in Michigan and Ohio regarding milk labeling. Milk is Milk if it is from the USA.

There are a lot of other issues involved with certified organic milk (feed choices, the use of antibiotics) that a dairy which is just not using r-BGH don't necessarily follow... and there is a lead-time to certification, when there are practices that need to be followed but certification hasn't been completed. The dairy you're using may be working or certification, or just not using r-BGH, and you could contact them and ask which it is.

Hormone-free milk doesn't actually exist, as hormones are a normal part of milk (vitamin D is a hormone, for one thing, and it is naturally-present in every kind of cow's milk except skim). What they probably mean is the cows don't get r-BGH... but unless the terminology is actually legally restricted, it may not even mean that. They may mean that there are sub-clinical traces of r-BGH that 'don't count' in the milk, in their minds, and the cows may well be treated with it anyhow. I'm not sure of the labelling laws regarding this particular nightmare.

L.

L.

No antibiotics, no added hormones, no feed covered in herbicides, no chemicals period. That is the organic version. There is a lot of back and forth speculation in your responses from a lot of passionate moms (quite a few with dairy farm experience to boot!).
My theory, however, is to buy the organic milk. I try to only buy organic dairy for my 2 older kids and always have. And when my 4 month old gets to be 1 year, she will only have organic dairy too. I feel like adding hormones (whether they are already naturally occurring in the cow or not) is just messing with what is naturally supposed to occur. Comparing it to adding estrogen during menopause (as one response went)is interesting, because adding estrogen to a woman's body has been strongly linked to causing cancer. Furthermore, adding hormones to a cow is not for the health of the cow...it is just to increase production, increase supply, and therefore increase profits. It is absolutely not natural...if it was, the cow would have done it herself.
The milk is a primary source of nutrition for your little one, why give him/her added "anything" that is unnatural. I don't want my kids ingesting "growth" hormones, chemicals or antibiotics. Like you, I buy only organic everything...though there is controversy over produce and ecoli. And in order to afford it, I've made a lot of concessions in other places. It's just a personal choice. But if I could only feed them one area of food that was organic, it would be dairy/eggs. They may be more expensive than their regular counterparts, but in all the food you give your family...milk/eggs are absolutely the cheapest---the most bang for the buck.

I use a lot of organics too, prefer alternative medicine over conventional (I don't even WANT to get started on that). Hormones is the major difference between organic and non-organic. But there's also another train of thought, which is 'Cow's milk for cows'. A lot of vegetarians, vegans, etc don't believe in cow's milk for humans, organic or not. So your options are to try rice milk, Silk, or Almond Milk. And I can attest that it isn't as difficult transitions as one might think. I last used 1/2% milk, switched to Silk, and these days I use Almond Milk. I will admit to using Horizon brand half and half for my latte. But I widely use the Almond milk. And I had no problem to switch over from one to another, taste-wise.
Try it yourself and put your mind at ease.

I believe that hormone-free means that they do not give their cows the nasty hormones that make them generate 10X the normal amount of milk. But, if the grain they feed the cows has pesticides in it, then the milk really is not organic. If you can't afford to buy organic all the time, this is a great alternative. I buy organic milk at Costco or when it is on sale at the grocery store but not all the time. I figure less is better but it doesn't have to be an all or nothing game. Are we ever 100% sure what our kids are ingesting??

HI L.,

Non-organic milk producers may not use any hormones, but they usually feed their cattle with crops grown with pesticides and herbicides. The vast majority also treat mastitis in their cows with antibiotics. (I grew up on a dairy farm.)

My brother-in-law is a dairy farmer and he says that his milk bottler's regulations require that the farmers not use the growth hormone, but that no one checks it and he knows many farmers who continue to use it and still send their milk to this processor.

Personally, I go organic as much as I can and also raw. Raw milk has many health benefits. See www.westonaprice.org for lots of information on milk and other nutrition helps that are out of the mainstream!

F.

It may be hormone free but they are still feeding their cows grain that is not organic, giving them antibiotics and not letting them eat the grass (because of lack of it). Cows are not meant to eat grain. It doesn't digest in them correctly but they do it anyway so that they can become fatter for the slaughter and because there is not enough grass to feed the massive amount of cows that are used for our burgers. I don't know why they do this for milk cows. But at least hormone free is better than nothing.
I buy organic milk from Costco and from Trader Joe's. They also have it at Meijer now. Paying the high price is worth it for me. I think in the long run, my children will be much healthier and not resistant to antibiotics when they need them and hopefully cancer free when they get older.
I just moved away from Trader Joe's and really miss it. If you've never been there, check it out. They have good prices for organic everything.

My family eats organic too but we don't do milk. All organic means is they are fed an organic diet, no hormones and no antibiotics (unless they're sick) but they still eat corn. Kinda seems like a waste of money to me.

Raw milk is from corn fed cows, to me that's worth the extra money!

Hi L.,
I have been (trying to) feed my family as much organic food as I can as well, so this is one of my favorite subjects!! The "hormone free" milk- like Meijer's now has is still not organic unless it has the official seal. While it's good that it is hormone free, unless it is organic, you are still getting the antibiotics in your milk and the nutrional quality isn't as high. If you are getting organic meats, make sure they are PASTURED and GRASS FED. If you have any other questions, please let me know, I'd love to chat!

E.

Keep in mind that hormone- free means that they are not using any BST. The dairy producers gave additional amounts to the cows to increase production. However this is a naturally occuring hormone that the cows have. The dairy farmers only increased the amounts each cow would have. It's kind of like taking estrogen during menopause. So the hormone is in the milk naturally, it's hard to regulate the amount in a milk tank. That's why it's not listed on the label. Organic simply means that the cows can't have anitbiotics if they get sick and they can't use herbicides to keep weeds down in their fields or use insecticides if insects are eating their cow's feed supply. If you would see the conditions the cows are in at some (not all) organic farms, I don't know if you would buy organic. If you know the producers and go there directly to buy the product that is the best if you really feel the need for organic. I know of a family that does this and thehy do a great job, but large production organic facilities may not always be better.

Hi L., I noticed that same label on our non-organic milk. As far as milk goes, I am more concerned about the hormones than whether it's organic or not. I think there's a lot more to being organic than just a lack of hormones. But getting milk without hormones is way better than milk that doesn't make the hormone-free claim. yep, organic is expensive. they say the only way to encourage the prices to drop is to get more people to buy organic. I'm thinking it'd be easier to try to grow things yourself...in all your spare time...lol

Lindsey,
"Hormone free" milk only means that the cows that produced that milk have not been given BST, which is a natural hormone found in all milk-producing mammals, humans included. To buy truly organic milk, the cows are fed only organically produced feed and are not given any antibiotics or other medicines. Organic milk would be labeled as such and is quite a bit more expensive because it is more expensive to produce.

L.,

The way I look at it is that any company or product that is truly organic will absolutely want the UDSA organic label. So I would assume that anything that does not say organic is NOT organic, not that they just don't have the label.

Also I am not totally sure but I think that the cows just have to be fed organic food in order to be called organic, I am not sure if hormones apply (they should, it they don't) I would search online under organic or hormone free guidlines. Also if you are buying from a health food store like Harvest Health they are very knowledgeable and would be able to tell you.

My only thought is that the milk could be hormone free. I think "organic" also refers to what the cows have eaten. So, if the cows have been fed with grain that was grown using pesticides, I don't think the milk can have an official organic label.

L.,
My sister-in-law turned me on to the benefits of feeding my daughter all natural foods (which includes organic). She's done tons of research (her son is on the autism spectrum and has a number of food allergies - he also seems to have better behaviors since she cut out all foods with unnatrual preservatives and food coloring) and is of the opinion that even if you buy milk produced from cows not treated with add'l hormones (as opposed to the more expensive organic), you are doing a very good thing for your child. I shop at Whole Foods and they have their own brand called 365 - this brand is pretty reasonably priced all around, not just milk(most products are the same price or at least close to the cost of less-healthy products found at traditional grocery stores). I've found that their 365-brand gallons of milk are only approx $1 more than the milk found at Meijer or Kroger or any other traditional grocery store (as opposed to a gallon of organic milk which is often double the price of "regular"). Another good place to shop for natural foods is Trader Joes. The extra cost is a sacrafice that is definitely worth it, in my opinion. I think that if you are on a budget, it is just about as healthful to buy the hormone-free products as it is to buy organic (logic would suggest that any company willing to exclude the additional hormones from their product won't likely use an over-abundance of harmful pesticides). But that is just my opinion - I'm by no means an expert. I applaud you for making the financial sacrafice to keep your family healthy - I think it will prove worthwhile down the road!
Good Luck,
J. (mother of a 20 month old daughter)

From what I understand, what you're probably looking at is the cheaper alternative. Not organic, but at least they're not adding hormones, which means the cows are not as likely to develop mastitis, which is where the pus and antibiotics come in. Actually, if I had this alternative available to me up here in Calgary I'd choose it because it's more economic than organic. Up here, I can pay $4 for a gallon of "regular" milk, or $5.39 for a HALF GALLON of organic! Ouch! So I buy two gallons of regular, then a gallon of organic. I figure at least I'm cutting down on the yuck factor without breaking the bank. Hope this helps.

You need to look for either the USDA label or the QAI label - QAI (Quality Assurance International) is a independent third party organic certification company, then they aren't organic. Organic milk is much more expensive to produce so you won't be seeing too many companies switching to it all too soon.

I too am happy to see that the milk producers are not using growth hormones on their cows. However, this does not mean that the milk is organic. The cows would have to be fed organic feed also. I don't know what other criteria they would need for it to be organic though.

Hope this helps.

Hi L.! You are asking great questions! More people need to be label readers! You are savy to look for the certified organic label. There is a whole lot of difference between actual organic and "no added hormones". A company can label itself organic and only have to have 70% of the ingredients actually have to be organic. You're noticing things some companies hope you wouldn't!

Does your daughter have dietary needs that require her to drink milk? If so, I had a Mom tell me that one way they saved money with their 5 or 6 kids was to buy whole milk from the farmer and then cut it with filtered water. (add water at the time of use) Have you thought about finding raw milk? I have some resources for that I'd be glad to share.

If it's not a dietary need, there is a lot of information that suggests it's not necessary and might even not be a good thing. If you'd like more info about that email me back.

You sound like a good careful Mom. You're fortunate to be "Momming" in these days when there are so many resources and choices!
warmly, M. G

I am not a farmer. I am a consumer that has been allergic to dairy since I was a small child. I get intense belly cramps if I eat non-organic dairy. I can eat organic cheese, milk, ice cream, yogurt with no problem. We buy Silk because it is less expensive but for baking and around the holidays we buy organic milk. I would also like to share that my father and my brother also have the same reactions... non organic dairy hurts us when we eat it.

We eat 90% of our food organic. My husband used to go to the chiropractor every week... he now goes every 6 months. I have more energy and there is less illness in our home. I am not a scientist but I don't understand why we would genetically modify food, or why we would put chemicals on our foods that can not be washed away that you would not put on your dinner table...

L.
www.HealthyFamilyHome.com

Hi L., Organic means free of pesticides. Drinking milk free of hormones is different. Organic milk is fed only organic grains (well the cows are!) or grazed in fields free of pesticide. Hope this clarifys for you. FYI costco has rbht free milk and guernsey and country fresh are too... and costco is of course affordable. To get organic milk you will pay a bit more. Ok a lot more!

Organic products must be a certain percent organic in order to get certified organic by the USDA, I think it's 70% or so. Regular milk that is not organic may, in fact, be hormone free. I'm not exactly sure, but organic usually means there are no preservatives, chemicals, or hormones. It's not just the hormones, but the cows may also feed on an organic diet. A hormone free regualar milk may be a nice compromise, not as expensive as organic.

I'm sure you've gotten a ton of responses by now, but the difference is that to be labeled Organic the cows have to be fed organic feed, as well as be hormone and antibiotic free. That means the cows also haven't been fed with pesticides or chemicals to pass along in the milk. Organic is expensive and I can't always afford organic everything, but I made milk a priority because my kids drink so much of it...

A big deal was made lately by the fact many groceries and mfg were advertising hormone free milk. This led the public to believe that the milk was free of any hormones. This is in fact untrue. the hormones that people were talking about are actually produced by the cow itself not added by the dairy farmer. They are not organic nor technically are they hormone free as the cow itself in its life passes hormones through its milk
take it from an old farm girl

Hormone -free is not the same as organic. Organic milk would come from cows that are fed organic food and raised to whatever those "organic" standards are, whereas hormone-free just means they aren't given growth hormones.

I am a BIG fan of organic and natural food........The milk you are speaking of is indeed hormone & antibiotic free, however, I believe they cannot label it Organic if the cows are not fed an organic diet. I purchase most of my cheese and milk products that are "natural" versus "organic" to save a few bucks. I am most concerned about the hormones and antibiotics given to the cows. Plus I have been told of how expensive it is to have a product with the USDA Organic label stamped on it ~ therefore alot of farmers are opting for a "natural" product.

Take care!!!