Milk drinkers have one more decision to make. It's not just "skim or 2 percent?" anymore.
Now you also have to decide whether to buy your milk produced with or without artificial hormones.
What's the fuss?
The issue is that about 1 in 5 dairy cows in the U.S. is injected with recombinant bovine growth hormone (RbGH), also called recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST). It's an artificial hormone that boosts milk production.
Cows that are given rbST often develop health problems as a result, including mastitis, or inflammation of the udders. The mastitis is treated with antibiotics, contributing to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
But that's not all.
Milk from rbST-treated cows contains increased amounts of IGF-1, another hormone associated with cell growth and potentially the development of some kinds of tumors. Numerous scientific reviews have examined the links, though, and found the evidence inconclusive.
More research is needed to better understand the potential risks to human health of drinking milk from rbST-treated cows.
In the meantime, much of the world isn't taking chances and has banned the use of rbST in dairy cows. The no-rbST zone includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union.
Here at home, you do have a choice, but it'll cost you. If you want to avoid milk from rbST-treated cows, you can buy higher-priced organic milk or milk that's labeled as coming from cows not given artificial growth hormones.
There's no consistent rule for labeling milk made from rbST-free cows. Look for words like, "rbGH-free," "this milk is from cows not treated with rbGH," "rbGI-I-free," "rbSTfree" or "no artificial hormones."
And be glad you have a choice. Fights have been going on at the state and federal levels for years between dairies that do and don't use artificial hormones.
Dairies that use artificial hormones want to prevent those that don't from being able to make those claims on their product labels. Their fear is that, right or wrong, you may think that milk produced without artificial hormones is superior and buy accordingly.
For now, principles of free speech have won out, and you can know how your milk was produced. That is, if you drink it in the first place.
Me, I'll stick with my almond milk and leave the worries behind.
