More and more dairy producers are shunning genetically engineered growth hormones in their milk in an attempt to hop on the "natural foods" bandwagon by offering a product that's healthier than conventional milk but less expesive than organic.
At a Safeway near central Seattle, for example, a half gallon of conventional Lucerne-brand whole milk was recently selling for $1.69, while the Horizon organic brand was priced at $3.69. Priced neatly in between, at $2.79, was the Darigold milk labeled as "coming from cows not treated with the growth hormone rBST." Many pure-food advocates oppose the hormone’s use on health grounds, saying it can require cows to be treated with extra antibiotics and can result in milk with higher amounts of a separate hormone linked to cancer in some studies. Experts say that avoiding the hormone is the main reason people buy organic milk, whose sales have been growing rapidly the last few years.
nytimes.com
