Terry Etherton’s Blog on Hormones, Biotechnology, and Food Safety

SHERRY BUNTING
Published in Farmshine (March 28, 2008 Issue)

Dairymen respond to Wal-Mart’s “Great Value”

Wal-Mart announced this week that its Great Value milk brand now sources milk exclusively from cows not treated with rbST. Milk selections at Sam’s Club are also offered from suppliers sourcing milk from non-supplemented cows.

With this announcement came a report on Wal-Mart’s blogging website, where Rand Waddoups, “author for sustainability” writes about several new “sustainability-related” initiatives at Wal-Mart, including this recent change for Great Value milk. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted on Truth About Trade & Technology
April 2, 2008

Sixty-six university dairy and veterinary scientists launched a broad attack Monday against milk processors and retail marketers who increasingly seek to advertise and label milk produced by cows not treated with Monsanto’s recombinant bovine somatotropin. A letter from professors at nearly every major land grant university asserted there was no difference between conventional and “rBST-free” or organic milk but that consumers were being misled by emotional advertising claims to pay higher prices. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Etherton

Retail food prices at the supermarket increased in the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 basic grocery items in the first quarter of 2008 was $45.03, up about 8 percent or $3.42 from the fourth quarter of 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

John Fetrow VMD, MBA
Professor of Dairy Medicine
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
1365 Gortner Ave.
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108

Terry D. Etherton, Ph.D.
Department Head & Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition
Department of Dairy & Animal Science
324 W.L. Henning Bldg
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802

Milk is probably the most pure, wholesome, safe, highly regulated, inspected, and most carefully handled food that any of us consume. Dairy products provide a wealth of nutrients, including protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals. Even the butterfat in milk contains substances that may reduce cancer risks and help prevent obesity. Read the rest of this entry »

Henry I. Miller and Gregory Conko
Washington Times (February 29, 2008)

European Union officials adamantly refuse to let the World Trade Organization save them from themselves.

Despite a 2005 WTO ruling that some European countries were breaking international trade rules by prohibiting the importation of gene-spliced, or “genetically modified (GM),” crops and foods, Europe remains recalcitrant, unrepentant and on the verge of slaughtering its own livestock industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Socio-Economic Benefits Becoming Evident Among Resource-Poor Farmers

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (Feb. 13, 2008) – After a dozen years of commercialization, biotech crops are still gaining ground with another year of double-digit growth, and new countries joining the list of supporters, according to a report released today by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). In 2007, biotech crop area grew 12 percent or 12.3 million hectares to reach 114.3 million hectares, the second highest area increase in the past five years.In addition to planting more biotech hectares, farmers are quickly adopting varieties with more than one biotech trait. These “trait hectares” grew at a swift 22 percent, or 26 million hectares, to reach 143.7 million hectares – more than double the area increase of 12.3 million hectares. New crops were also added to the list as China reported 250,000 biotech poplar trees planted. The insect-resistant trees can contribute to reforestation efforts. Read the rest of this entry »

The following podcast features Orion Samuelson of WGN Radio discussing the use of recombinant bovine somatotropn (rbST).

Orion Samuelson is heard on WGN Radio, where he has served as Agribusiness Director since 1960. He and his associate, Max Armstrong, present 15 agricultural/business reports daily on WGN. They also host the hour-long Morning Show and Noon Show, both heard on Saturdays on WGN. Orion is also heard daily on more than 260 radio stations with his syndicated National Farm Report and on 110 stations with his syndicated Samuelson Sez. Orion and Max are seen weekly on rural channel RFD-TV, carried on Dish-TV and DirecTV on This Week in Agribusiness.

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The following podcast is of an interview with Dr. Terry Etherton on WHYY Radio in Philadelphia. This interview took place on January 15, 2008.

Summary from WHYY: The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently ruled that dairies that do not inject their cattle with synthetic growth hormone can no longer label their milk as hormone-free. The decision, which has been put on hold until the beginning of February, raises serious questions for consumers, dairy farmers, and retailers. We talk to TERRY ETHERTON of Penn State University.

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By TERRY D. ETHERTON, Ph.D.
My editorial reply to the Centre Daily Times, State College, PA
(Published in the January 21, 2008 issue of the Centre Daily Times)

Your editorial (Truth is spilled over milk, published on January 3, 2008) overlooked a lot of truths and passed on a few half truths as well.

The biggest overlooked truth is that the controversy over milk labeling has more to do with company profits than with consumer demand. The truth is that milk companies have forced farmers to stop using recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) so that the companies can imply through advertising that their milk is better than some other company’s milk. This disingenuous advertising — “hormone free,” “no artificial hormones,” etc. – is fully aimed at customers who cannot be expected to know all the facts about rbST. There is a bothersome fact that undermines this advertising strategy: All milk contains hormones —the same hormones in the same amounts, irrespective of whether the cow has been supplemented with rbST. This includes organic milk and milk from cows not supplemented with rbST. Even vitamin D, which is used to fortify milk, is a hormone. Read the rest of this entry »

Lyle Ruprecht
20009 Mishey Road
Butler, Ohio 44822

I am writing this letter as a concerned member of the dairy industry regarding misinformation surrounding the topic of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST). As a member of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Label Review Committee, I have done a large amount of research on the topic of rBST and the FDA’s guidance on labeling relating to the use of rBST. Read the rest of this entry »