Guest Post: Myths vs. Facts of Milk
Hi RhodeyGirl Readers, my name is Nancy {a.k.a. The Wife of a Dairyman}. My husband and I have a family dairy farm in northern California, just north of San Francisco.
Just recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Sabrina and her husband ‘in person’ at the Foodbuzz Fest. During the evening, Sabrina and I got to talking about dairy farm life and the process of producing milk. I had mentioned that one of the biggest misconceptions of milk, that people seem to have, is the myth that some milk contains antibiotics. Sabrina asked if I would be interested in doing a guest post on her blog regarding the Myths vs. Facts of milk. I was honored and very happy to do so.
I’m also pleased to give you a personal connection with the dairy business, with the hopes, that if you ever have any questions in the future regarding it, I could be one of the sources you turn to for answers.
Here are a few of the top ‘Myths vs. Facts’ regarding milk….
Myth: All milk – except organic milk – contains antibiotics.
Fact: It is illegal for milk to contain antibiotics. All milk {organic and conventional} is carefully tested for antibiotics with every truck load. Any milk that tests positive is disposed of immediately, and does not enter into the food supply. Before the milk can be unloaded at the processing plant, each load is tested for antibiotic residues. If the milk shows no evidence of antibiotics, it is pumped into the plant’s holding tanks for further processing. If the milk does not pass antibiotic testing, the entire truck load of milk is discarded and the farm samples are tested to find the source of the antibiotic residues. Regulatory action is taken against the farm with the positive antibiotic test. Positive antibiotic tests are rare, and account for far less than 1% of the tank loads of milk delivered to processing plants. When we need to treat our cows with antibiotics, they are not milked into the milk tank. Their milk is dumped after being milked. They are not milked into the milk tank until ALL antibiotics are completely out of their system.
Myth: Organic cows rarely become ill because they are out on pasture.
Fact: Organic cows do become ill and when they do, they are either given a treatment that has been approved by the national organic standard or they are given conventional antibiotics then sold.
Myth: Hormones are given to ALL conventional cows.
Fact: We, at our dairy do not give our cows hormones. Some dairies do. So here is some info on hormones and milk: Hormones in milk include BST and rBST. BST is a natural hormone that occurs in cows and it functions to increase milk production. rBST is the synthetic form of this natural hormone in milk. In the early 1990s, after considerable testing, the FDA approved the use of rBST in milk production and the milk from rBST-supplemented cows is safe for human consumption. This has been affirmed and reaffirmed by the FDA, World Health Organization, American Medical Association, National Institute of Health and regulatory agencies in 30 countries. BST is species-specific, which means that it is biologically inactive in humans. In addition, pasteurization destroys 90% of BST and rBST in milk. The remaining trace amounts of this hormone in milk are broken down into inactive fragments (amino acids) by the gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, studies linking the hormones in milk to the early onset of puberty are false; both hormones are “cow-specific,” meaning they have no effect on the human body. Since the milk produced is identical, producers are not required to label whether or not their cows are treated with rBST; however, some producers that do not use rBST often market their milk as “rBST-free.” Milk produced by treated and untreated cows is exactly the same and offers the same nutritional value. (dairy council of CA)
Myth: Large farms aren’t family farms.
Fact: According to USDA, about 99 percent of all U.S. dairy farms are family-owned and operated. The average U.S. dairy farm herd size is approximately 150 cows and according to the USDA, the majority (77%) have less than 100 cows.
Myth: Pesticides are overused and end up in milk.
Fact: Pesticides are not a health concern in any milk products. Thorough testing and stringent government standards ensure that all milk is safe, pure and nutritious. Dairy farmers consistently meet or exceed safety regulations on pesticide use.
Myth: Today’s dairy cow is treated like nothing more than a milk machine. Organic cows are not pressured to produce more than 50 lbs of milk per day where conventional cows are made to produce over 100 lbs of milk per day.
Fact: Dairy cows must be healthy and well cared for in order to produce pure, wholesome milk. Which means their comfort is greatly important. Conventional cows produce, on average, 65 lbs of milk per day. (US Dept. of Ag)
Myth: Dairy cows are kept in cramped, dirty quarters without access to the outdoors.
Fact: Cow comfort is very important to dairy farmers. Ensuring that clean, dry bedding is available to cows at all times, in addition to providing healthy living conditions, and as a stress free environment as possible are top priorities to dairy farmers that I know personally.
Myth: Baby calves are mistreated and don’t receive proper attention.
Fact: To help protect calves, dairy farmers place them in clean, dry, individual pens shortly after birth to control their environment, administer proper nutrition and vaccinations, and get them off to a healthy start.
Myth: Modern dairy farmers don’t practice sustainable agriculture.
Fact: Dairy farmers depend on land, air and water as part of their livelihood. In fact, dairy farms must follow strict state and local water quality regulations, and meet standards for solid and liquid waste storage, handling and recycling per guidelines from state and federal agencies.
Thank you for reading! It was my pleasure to share this information with you and if you have any questions, please let me know, I’d be happy to help answer them for you. If you have any questions or would like more, in-depth information regarding anything you’ve read, please feel free to visit me at The Wife of a Dairyman and I’d be happy to help answer them. ~Nancy
10 Responses to “Guest Post: Myths vs. Facts of Milk”
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This was really interesting to read. Thanks for sharing!
Great post, thanks for sharing! I definitely believed some of these myths prior to reading your post.
This was really interesting information! We do hear a lot about dairy and it is interesting to hear something different.
Thanks!
Way to go Wife of a Dairyman!!
Whoot! Whoot!
KT
Great job- I love Nancy- so informative as always.
Thanks for sharing Nancy.
An additional point about rBST – This is the same technology we are celebrating in healthcare because we can make insulin from human sources. Humulin insulin is produced using recombinant DNA processes just like rBST. The use of technology may be scary because people do not understand it, so it was great to see the list of how many organizations have verified the safety of rBST.
After reading the details I have a few questions?—the processing plant is where a multitude of various dairy milks are pumped into. Does that facility MIX milks from multiple dairies that can have pesticides and hormones so that the mix is then cartoned up and sold? If your milk here in Novato is so well proected on the ranch, is not the MIX process diluting the purity of your production?
I find this blog post a little one sided and almost leaning towards big dairy propaganda, or even do I dare say information provided to dairy farmers by Monsanto, (a large bio-tech company who dominates most agriculture production in the US with their GMO products). rBST has been proven in many studies to be causing an increase in breast and prostate cancer as well as lead to early onset of puberty and obesity. To say that this is a “myth” is just ludicrous. In fact, a study conducted by Monsanto, on rats, showed that the rats did absorb the rBST into their bloodstream with the biggest concentrations being absorbed in the prostate. To say that this GMO hormone is “cow specific” and has no effect on the human body is also ridiculous. Obviously if it is effecting rats, (which are the go to test subjects for just about every drug on the market to test the effects of it on humans) it will effect humans too. Therefore saying that milk produced by treated and untreated cows are no different is TOTALLY FALSE. I would encourage readers to do their research before believing this article. There is a reason that rBST is banned in Australia, Canada, Japan, the ENTIRE EU and 19 other non-industrialized countries. If you want to believe everything the FDA approves, why not take a look at all the drugs they approve annually that then get taken off the shelves years later when disastrous side effects are “discovered”. Fen-Phen, (diet pills) anyone?
I am extremely disappointed in this post, and would suggest to Sabrina that she do her homework before letting “guest posters” put one-sided information like this on her blog.
@Anonymous, I do appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
Yes, the post is completely one sided, but that was the point. The intention was to share the view of the dairy farmer. I possibly wrongfully assumed that everyone already knows the other point of view, so I thought it would be interesting to share the view straight from the wife of a dairy farmer.
Further, I almost edited out the section on rBST since it got a bit more technical and is highly debatable on all sides, but this is the view straight from Nancy, and it is important to know what the dairy farmers believe too.
I do acknowledge that I should have written an intro explaining that this is the view of the dairy farmer, but I had thought Nancy did a great job introducing herself as such.
Thank you for your thoughts on the subject though. I have mixed thoughts on cow dairy in general, but I find that learning as much as possible from all sides helps me form my own thoughts. If you would like to guest post on your point of view you begin to explain above, I would be more than happy to post that too. Please email me at sabrina@rhodeygirltests.com to discuss further!
This is a little after the article was published timewise, but the title of the article is called Myths vs. Facts, which is misleading. Especially in light of your later statement that it was just a ‘view’ of a dairy lady. Shouldn’t one be assuming by the title that the dairy lady is giving us ‘facts’ on rBST.
That was part of the problem. The title of the article implies that the facts are being presented and there is no indication otherwise until you get to the comments. You can find plenty of cigarette science by cigarette manufacturers that stated that tobacco has no negative health care effects.