The
Boston Globe says injecting cows with growth hormones does not change the milk the cows produce:
Existing scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that injecting cows with an artificial growth hormone to increase their milk production is not a food safety concern. The US Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly said there is no difference between milk from cows treated with the artificial hormone and milk from untreated cows.
So why are milk companies putting disclaimers on milk bottles that their milk doesn't contain growth hormones? Apparently it's a marketing strategy:
Three years ago Oakhurst Dairy set out to differentiate its products from all the others in the supermarket dairy case -- by attaching labels stating that its farmers pledge not to inject their cows with an artificial growth hormone.
The labels, tapping into fears about the safety of the nation's milk supply, have resonated with consumers. Sales shot up 10 percent in each of the last three years, approaching $87 million this year. Oakhurst officials attribute a significant portion of the growth to their no-artificial-growth-hormone campaign.
With Oakhurst cutting into its market share in Northern New England, H.P. Hood responded by duplicating Oakhurst's strategy, even the wording of the labels, in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Garelick Farms appears to be moving in the same direction, also in Northern New England only. In January, Whole Foods Stores plans a chainwide launch of its own private-label milk from cows not injected with an artificial growth hormone.
***
Hood spokeswoman Lynne Bohan said the dairy copied Oakhurst's strategy to remain competitive. She said the Hood label on bottles in northern New England does not appear on Hood bottles in Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island because consumers in those states have been less concerned about the hormone issue. She said the plants serving the Southern New England states have no prohibition on milk from cows injected with the artificial growth hormone.
''I wouldn't call it a scare tactic marketing campaign,'' Bohan said of the hormone labels. ''It's a marketing message.'' She said Hood believes there is no taste or nutritional difference between the milk Hood sells in Northern New England and the milk it sells in Southern New England.
