Pennsylvania backs down on growth hormone labeling of milk

Pennsylvania is backing down from its labeling ban after pressure from consumer groups. Diaries can now label products as being produced without artificial growth hormones, but they cannot label the products as not containing growth hormones. At least this is a partial victory for sanity in consumer marketing, as one cannot distinguish between milk produced with rBST and not. There is no qualitative difference.

The only group of consumers this benefits is the group that has concerns about animal welfare, as injection of growth hormone, recombinant or natural, can lead to diseases in some animals. I have a feeling that this group of consumers is very small. In fact, we know from the Pacific Northwest that milk with the “produced without artificial growth hormones” only had about 1.5 percent of the market share.