Gov. Rendell and his agriculture secretary ought to side with consumers in a dispute over milk labeling.
Unless Agriculture Secretary Dennis C. Wolff wakes up and smells the
cream in his coffee, Pennsylvania will ban dairies from labeling milk
cartons as “hormone-free” on Feb. 1. That would be the wrong move for
consumers, who have a right to know how their food is produced.

Wolff is kowtowing to dairy farmers who inject their herds with a
hormone, which boosts milk production. The hormone-using farmers argue
that a “hormone-free” label on competitors’ milk wrongly implies the
milk produced with hormones is unsafe.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the growth hormone for dairy herds 14 years ago.

There’s no scientific evidence that milk from injected cows is unsafe.
But some health experts say the matter isn’t quite settled, either.

Research has focused on a protein found in milk called insulin-like
growth factor 1. At high levels, IGF-1 has been associated with cancer
in humans.

Milk from cows treated with synthetic hormones can have higher levels
of IGF-1. But scientists disagree whether drinking this milk can cause
higher IGF-1 levels in the bloodstream. Whether or not consumers know
all the details of this debate, it is an open question that state
officials have no right to ignore.

There’s no dispute that injecting cows with hormones can cause health
problems for the cows themselves. That’s one reason Europe and Canada
have banned the practice.

After Wolff announced his milk-label decision in October, a debate
ensued, prompting him to delay the Jan. 1 start date by one month. He
should shelve this idea permanently.

Pennsylvania would be the first state in the nation to deny consumers
information about how their milk is produced. Wolff argues that some
“hormone-free” labels are inaccurate.

If so, correct the labeling procedures. But don’t use that as an excuse
to keep consumers in the dark about how their food is produced.

The Keystone State was fifth in the nation last year in the amount of
milk produced – more than 10.7 million pounds. It’s an important
industry. But the job of the state – and Rendell and his ag secretary –
is to give consumers more information and not to protect a
special-interest group.

Full Story: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080102_Editorial
___Milk_and_Health.html