Organic Milk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Waste of money. For anyone who, despite the scientific findings from multiple countries re: the lack of any indication of harm from the "hormones", is skittish about that...virtually all grocery store milk is " hormone free" now.

Only good reason to buy organic is if you believe the animals on normal farms are mistreated (i do not). In that case make sure you avoid the most common organic since that is Horizon and animals there are on very large farms, not the tiny ones I think most envision when buying organic.

The irony is that the hormones that everyone is worried about don't even make it into the milk, even in cows treated with it. Do people not know this, or do they not believe that it is true? I know there are other reasons for drinking organic milk, but I just don't see the logic in concern over hormones that don't end up in the milk anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Waste of money. For anyone who, despite the scientific findings from multiple countries re: the lack of any indication of harm from the "hormones", is skittish about that...virtually all grocery store milk is " hormone free" now.

Only good reason to buy organic is if you believe the animals on normal farms are mistreated (i do not). In that case make sure you avoid the most common organic since that is Horizon and animals there are on very large farms, not the tiny ones I think most envision when buying organic.

The irony is that the hormones that everyone is worried about don't even make it into the milk, even in cows treated with it. Do people not know this, or do they not believe that it is true? I know there are other reasons for drinking organic milk, but I just don't see the logic in concern over hormones that don't end up in the milk anyway.

Really? I thought there were various studies showing an increased level of IGF in milk produced by cows who were given additional hormones. I don't know for sure, just asking. Although I did find this:

However, Yu and Rohan appear to be
unaware of the fact that, since 1984,
most of the nation’s milk supply has
been contaminated with excess IGF levels
resulting from the injection of cows
with recombinant bovine growth hormone
(rBGH) to increase milk yields
(3). Moreover, a substantial proportion
of IGF in milk from rBGH-injected
cows is in a more bioactive, unbound,
protein-free form than is IGF in milk
from untreated cows (4). In short-term
oral administration experiments in rodents
(5,6), IGF resists pasteurization
and digestion, is readily absorbed from
the gastrointestinal tract, and has
growth-promoting effects. Furthermore,
converging lines of experimental and
epidemiologic evidence (6) have incriminated
excess IGF levels in rBGH
milk as risk factors for breast and colon
cancers. Confirmation of these concerns
by an international expert committee
prompted the January 2000 European
ban on the marketing and sale of rBGH
milk (7). Avoidance of rBGH dairy
products in favor of natural products
would thus appear to be the most practical
and immediate “dietary intervention
to . . . [achieve] the goal of preventing
cancer” (1).
SAMUEL S. EPSTEIN

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 93, No. 3, February 7, 2001

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/3/238.1.full.pdf
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 93, No. 3, February 7, 2001