photo credit: Pembroke Dave
We have all heard that drinking milk is good for your health and bones and thus we buy it by the gallons and consume at least the required amount. However, is the milk generally available on the market really so god for a person’s health?
In the early 1990s FDA approved the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), otherwise known as bovine somatotropin (rbST), in cows. This synthetic hormone is thus injected into the animals to increase their milk production. Even though this practice has been banned in Europe, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, it is still used on a large scale in the US.
Moreover, according to the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, the hormone injections cause cows to suffer from frequent udder infections known as mastitis. Consequently, the animals are treated with antibiotics more often, which, in turn, contributes to the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Additionally, both the synthetic hormones and the antibiotics remain in the meat as well as dairy products and are consumed by the public.
The manufacturers of dairy products (milk included) coming from treated animals are not required to mark it in any particular way to alert the consumers. However, farmers who do not inject their animals with the growth hormone nor the antibiotics often label their products as containing “no artificial hormones or antibiotics” strictly on voluntary basis.
So, next time you’re in your local store shopping for milk or other dairy products, look for labels such as “no artificial hormones or antibiotics used” or (if not available) simply opt for certified organic milk and dairy since these are guaranteed free of both hormones and antibiotics. Moreover, organic usually means healthier animals, which, in turn, means healthier products for you and your family.
Not to mention the baby male calves from the dairy cows become veal and the over-milking of cows causes them to have very short, painful lives. Mammals are naturally supposed to be weened off milk at a certain age anyway. Don’t you find it funny that not only are adults drinking milk, but that it’s milk from another species? Not healthy for us or the environment!!