February 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Even your latte is now rBGH–free – at least if you buy it at Starbucks. Since January 1, all Starbucks milk, half & half and whipping cream comes from suppliers that do not use rBGH. According to Starbucks, the change is “in response to requests from our customers.”

At the same time, Starbucks stopped offering organic milk, which had been available at an additional cost. The company says its conversion to rBGH-free dairy eliminates “the primary reason our customers ordered organic.”

Milk that’s certified rBGH-free is typically more expensive than conventional milk, but well below the cost of organic — which by definition is free of artificial hormones along with pesticides, antibiotics and synthetic fertilizers.

Sara Kaplaniak, a mother of two in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, believes the premium price is worth it – for both rBGH-free and organic. “If you want to send a message, watch what you buy,” Kaplaniak says. “I try to direct my limited salary toward products that are kinder to the environment and to humans.”

The challenge for consumers is to identify milk from treated and untreated cows – since manufacturers are not required to label it one way or the other – and to decide whether rBGH is something worth worrying about. Those two dilemmas define the current controversy.

THE HISTORY OF BOVINE GROWTH HORMONES

The use of rBST goes back 14 years, but the heightened consumer awareness is fairly recent. “It’s in the last two years where this has really become a phenomenon that is national in scope,” says Chris Galen of the National Milk Producers Federation.

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