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Milk: Is it Overrated?
February 13, 2007 | 6 Comments
Frank Oski thinks so. In his acclaimed book ‘Don’t Drink your Milk’, he calls it the ‘world’s most overrated nutrient’.
Bee agrees. She was strictly vegan for a decade, avoiding all dairy products. Her colds disappeared, so did her skin rashes, and she was at peak fitness. She looks back in horror at the traumatic childhood days when her mom chased her around the house, exhorting her to “drink your milk”. Amma, just what were you thinking?
Jai disagrees. He thinks icecream is the fifth food group. Over the years, he has managed to lead her astray.
It is well documented that supermarket milk is a brew of hormones, chemicals, DDT, fungicides, defoliants, components of rocket fuel, and radioactive fallout, produced by artificially inseminated creatures herded together in filthy feed lots. If you haven’t watched The Corporation, please add it to your Netflix queue before buying your next carton of milk.
We have always been fastidious in our decision not to consume non-organic milk or yogurt.
Digging through the reams of information (and misinformation) about dairy products and their labelling, however, we ended up very very confused. We’re not sure what the ‘organic’ label on dairy products actually stands for. After reading this post, you may end up as disoriented as we are. We don’t claim to have answers. We are just a little more conscious of the need to never stop asking questions, and the right to demand explanations as consumers.
What is organic milk?
According to the Organic Consumers Association,
“By law, only products that meet specific federal criteria can be labeled
“organic,” and the National Organic Standards Board, appointed by the
federal secretary of agriculture, determines those standards. Organic dairy
cows, for instance, must eat grain that isn’t genetically modified or
treated with pesticides or fertilizers, and the herds cannot be given growth
hormones or antibiotics.
Furthermore, “the producer must provide access to the outdoors, shade,
shelter, exercise areas, fresh air, and direct sunlight suitable to the
species, its stage of production, the climate and the environment,”
according to the rules. “This requirement includes access to pasture for
ruminant animals.”
Does that mean organic milk is better than milk without the ‘organic’ label?
The most most contentious element found in milk is rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) or rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin), a genetically engineered material used for increasing milk production in cows. Monsanto manufactures and sells this under the brand name POSILAC.
Monsanto, in cahoots with the FDA and the dairy industry, has tried every trick in the book to pass milk with artificial growth hormones as “safe” and at par with regular milk.
POSILAC, which adds a quarter of a billion dollars to Monsanto’s bottom line, is banned outside the United States. It is known to create mastitis and udder inflammation in cows, and believed to increase prostate, breast and colon cancer risk in humans.
A study found that American women who eat dairy products appear to be five times as likely to give birth to fraternal twins as those who do not.
Milk labelled ‘organic’ is supposed to be free of rBGH and bST. However, it pays not to be complacent. The inspection regime is so lax, that consumers buying milk labelled rBGH free must rely on the goodwill of dairies. The Organic Consumers Association advises consumers to call the dairy company to find out if the milk you are buying is rBGH-free. Here’s the contact list.
Milk labelled “organic” may still have other hormones and antibiotics.
That includes natural hormones, added Vitamin D (which is a hormone), and the reproductive hormone, prostaglandin. Dairy farmers inoculate and vaccinate their animals against a range of diseases.
Organic Trade Association Director Katherine DiMatteo has publicly stated: “Organic agriculture is not a food safety claim. That’s not what our standards are about.” Reassuring. Not.
Is organic milk really worth the higher price?
We think so. However, it’s worth remembering, that organic milk is ultrapasteurised since it travels large distances, and needs a much longer shelf life than regular milk.
Unlike the raw milk we get in India from the milkman on his bicycle , pasteurised milk has lost many of its enzymes and has an altered protein and mineral composition, making it difficult to assimilate into the system.
Ultrapasteurised milk is even less effective in nutritional terms.
What about cheeses?
As the Whole Foods site points out,
Typically the “enzymes” in cheese have been vegetable or microbial based. Now however, given the constantly changing labeling laws, the word “enzymes” could be either animal or vegetable/microbial based. Most often, the use of the word “rennet” means it is animal based and “enzymes” typically means it is microbial based but one can never be sure. Bottom line if you are a strict vegetarian is to contact the manufacturer for the exact rennet.
We buy European or Canadian cheeses that are guaranteed to be rBGH free, or from stores that do not carry products with growth hormones.
Bee’s reading list:
Don’t Drink Milk
Milk Sucks
Pure Milk? Pure Bull!
Jai’s reading list:
6 more reasons to love icecream
Milk and Cookies
Filed Under: cheese, Dairy/Cheese, milk, Monsanto, NUTRITION, organic, rBGH, vegan recipes
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6 Comments
Oh no I must disagree with the bee I’m afraid. I drink milk as do my children on a purely voluntary basis. Perhaps milk here is a little less manufactured? I miss the glass milk bottles. Love the taste of milk, love it icy cold never warm. Prefer blue top homogenised full fat variety, I have low cholesterol I can afford it.
Thanks Pauaprincess…Although I must agree with Bee on the organic non-GMO part in the USA. Companies like Monsanto and Phillip Morris can change their names to Solutia and Altria and such to sound benign, however, they can’t really hide. –Jai
Wow, this is a very interesting article. Thanks for posting. But it is frustrating! Why can’t it just be simple? Milk = good. Why does it all have to be polluted? And why can’t organic mean what we think it means. Especially in the US, the organic standards are just a joke. When I think organic milk I think it comes from cows wandering in wide pastures. It just means they weren’t fed chemicals! But their living conditions aren’t all that great.
Hey Bee,
Thanx for taking the time to visit and add my blog to ur list. I must say all your work is very impressive. It will take me ages by the time I catch up with everything here. Very informative topics. Thanx once again
…
hello…I thought I was the only one who was going crazy looking for a good source for milk. As ignorant as I was before, the issue of milk took on an accelerated urgency after my daughter was born almost 6 years ago. Since then I experimented with organic, toddler formula, raw milk and finally settled on a local company that buys milk from local farmers who have pledged to not use hormones or antibiotics for their cows. Also, since the last one year, I boil the milk on stove top with cardamom and whole black peppercorns to make it more digestible. This has resulted is less mucus & fewer colds, (knock on wood) compared to when I would just microwave the milk. Also add a pinch of turmeric and suddenly its a healing heaven for everything!
[...] See our earlier post – Milk: Is It Overrated? [...]
[...] So Bee started consuming low-fat milk and yogurt daily (only organic). [...]