rBST in Milk: Or growth hormones in your milk.
If you haven’t seen it I am so surprised. I was shocked that one day I saw a small sign about RBST-free milk and the next day that sign had blown up in the milk aisle! Holy Cow! No pun intended…
This is the milk we buy. Well, actually we buy two percent..but that’s on the bottom shelf and no one wants to see a 9 month pregnant women bend over to snap a picture of what’s on the bottom shelf. So, I snapped this one.
The first thing we of course notice about this jug, other than the percent, is the top line. “Milk from cows not treated with rBST/rBGH”. Then a little asterisk. That of course makes me want to see what the asterisk says.
It says:
So this either does two things for you. Makes you start scratching your head and say “Why does it matter then” or make you say “Oh gosh they are putting growth hormones in my milk?!?!”
For me, I know lots of dairy farmers. So I immediately enlist the help of one. I asked her to tell me what this label means and this was her response:
As a dairy farmer I often get asked “Why do you give hormones to cows?” The easiest answer is that it is a completely safe and effective management practice. That often doesn’t relieve the fears that many moms have about giving their families dairy products from supplemented cows.
First let me explain what BST is and why it’s safe to consume. It is a naturally occurring hormone in cattle. It is found in all milk whether the cow has been supplemented with rBST or not. Tests done on milk have been unable to find any difference in levels of BST or in its makeup. Bovine somatatrophin (BST) is a protein based hormone and is species specific. In simple terms this means only cattle are affected by it. When we consume milk, all of which contains BST, it is simply a protein that is digested the same as any other.
The answer to why would we use a supplemental hormone at all is simple, it’s safe and it works. BST is a growth hormone that affects a cow’s feed efficiency. This means that she can do more with less. On average a cow will produce 10 pounds (approx. 1.25 gallons) more milk per day when given rBST. This means 6 cows can produce what it would take 7 unsupplemented cows to make. This is a true environmental tool. It means less water, feed, land and waste. A cow requires all those things just to exist whether she is producing milk or not.
As a mom myself, and the one milking the cow, I feel confident feeding my family any and all dairy products. We drink our own milk, straight from the supplemented cow.
SD Dairy Lady
To hear more about Dairy production make sure to visit the CommonGround website where you can meet Ginger (SD Dairy Lady) or another Dairy expert to ask questions!
Awesome stuff – thanks for sharing! (ps – I posted to the CommonGround Nebraska facebook page, thanks for letting me share content!)
Glad you liked! And thanks for re posting!