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

Terry Etherton

This blog is different from those previously posted on my Blog.

The first part of this Blog is a Letter to the Editor from Mr. Douglas Van Beek, a progressive dairy producer in California. The letter expresses his concern about the decision made by California Dairies, Inc. (CDI) to begin a ban on rbST. As readers of my Blogs appreciate, there is compelling and overwhelming science-based evidence that the use of rbST is safe, and milk from cows supplemented with rbST is the same as rbST-free or organic milk with respect to nutrient content, wholesomeness and the presence of many protein and steroid hormones that are naturally present in milk.After the Letter to the Editor from Mr. Van Beek is the article that was published in The Fresno Bee. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Etherton

I am shocked by the factors that drive agriculture policymaking at every level today. Decision makers in the public and private sectors are increasingly influenced by a cohort of activist anti-animal ag advocacy groups whose credibility should at best be questioned and at worst be dismissed absolutely. The example I discussed previously of “Starbucks” being pushed by Food & Water Watch and Organic Consumers Association to stop buying milk containing rbST is a good case study of this. Read the rest of this entry »

By Cahal Milmo
The Independent
Published: 19 February 2007

Organic food may be no better for the environment than conventional produce and in some cases is contributing more to global warming than intensive agriculture, according to a government report. Read the full article at The Independent.

Terry Etherton

Misinformation abounds in the public discussion about the need for and the importance of agricultural biotechnologies. Much of this has been propagated by anti-biotech activist groups in an attempt to sway public opinion in order to create an anti-biotechnology viewpoint. One approach used to scare consumers has been marketing campaigns that denounce hormones like rbST in milk as being dangerous. Perceptions get twisted. Instead of being concerned about the tiger, some jump at stripes. A treacherous path forward. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Etherton

Summary

Since the onset of the modern era of biotechnology in 1973, scientists have made impressive strides in developing new biotechnologies for agriculture (reviewed in Metabolic Modifiers, 1994; Etherton et al., 2003). Biotechnologies that enhance productivity and productive efficiency (feed consumed/unit of output) have been developed and approved for commercial use. Technologies that improve productive efficiency will benefit both producers and consumers because feed provision constitutes a major component (about 70%) of farm expenditures. Advances in biotechnology research have allowed impressive improvements to be made in diagnostic approaches, increasing microbial safety of food and improving animal health (reviewed in Etherton et al., 2003). Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Etherton

Major national and regional dairy food companies appear to have plans for frightening the public into handing over more of their “milk money”. It’s a simple strategy: use fear marketing to make consumers buy more expensive milk that bears labels hinting it might be safer than other milk even though it is the same.Recent articles in the New York Times and Boston Globe have pointed to consumer demand as the reason for companies such as Dean Foods and H.P. Hood refusing to accept milk from cows supplemented with rbST at some of their processing plants. Yet the International Dairy Foods Council, which represents these companies and others, says there is no major consumer concern about farmers using this safe, FDA-approved technology. Read the rest of this entry »

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Terry Etherton

The Boston Globe ran a story on Sept. 25th on the decision by H.P. Hood and Dean Foods to switch New England milk processing plants to “rbST-free” milk. In this story, a spokesperson for Dean Foods said, “Even though conventional milk is completely safe and POSILAC (recombinant bovine somatotropin; rbST) is completely safe, some people don’t feel comfortable with it.” This is the reason given for labeling milk as not coming from cows supplemented with rbST–a meaningless distinction, because all milk contains the same hormones in the same amounts, irrespective of whether they have been supplemented with rbST. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Etherton

The U.S. Food System is a remarkable infrastructure that many in the U.S. take for granted. Read the rest of this entry »