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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is selling under its own label milk that it says is free of bovine growth hormone - but the retail giant is undecided whether to reveal that information on its dairy cartons.
Wal-Mart is making the decision at the same time the states of Utah, Ohio and Missouri are considering outlawing labels that say dairy products are free of artificial growth hormones. (Pennsylvania enacted such a rule, only to recently have it overturned by the governor.)
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth would not discuss the labeling issue other than to say the chain is "considering our options on labels."
For now, consumers will have to find out on their own that Wal-Mart suppliers will be using cows free of artificial hormones.
"Consumers will know if they've read news reports or they call our consumer hot line [1-800-925-6278]," said Galberth. "They can also find it on our blog, at checkoutblog. com."
The milk will be sold under the Great Value brand at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores, the company said in a statement.
The release also took into account stands by farm organizations opposed to labels stating that dairy products are free of the artificial hormone, or rbST, saying, "No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and nonrbST-treated cows."
In Utah, state officials are crafting a rule that would mirror Wal-Mart's qualifying statement.
The proposed Utah rule would allow labels to contain information about cows being free of artificial hormones only if the label also says, "No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from cows treated with artificial growth hormones and cows not treated with artificial hormones."
The drive outlawing current labeling approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is supported by Monsanto Co. The multinational biotechnology corporation is the sole manufacturer of recombinant bovine somatotropin, which is injected into cows to increase milk production.
During a public hearing in February, Monsanto spokesman Brian Lowry praised Utah officials' efforts to run counter to FDA labeling practices, saying, "You're headed in the right direction."
But executives with Gossner Foods Inc. of Logan said the Utah rule would be a nightmare for processors if states impose different labeling requirements. Gossner processes half a billion pounds of milk annually for some of the nation's largest dairy companies.
"Let the federal guideline that was written 14 years ago continue to be what is followed and enforced," said Gossner spokesman Kelly Luthi. "If not, everyone in the dairy industry will suffer when consumers start speaking with their dollars and begin purchasing non-dairy products."
Milk is losing out in market share to soft drinks and other sugar drinks, national surveys show.
By the 1990s, youths drank twice as much soda pop as milk - compared with the 1970s, when girls consumed 50 percent more milk than soft drinks and boys drank twice as much milk as soda pop, according to the nonprofit education group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
And the decline in milk consumption is continuing. Today, nearly 60 percent of children do not drink milk with dinner and nearly one-third of all meals served to children include a sugared fruit beverage or a soft drink, according to findings from the NPD Group, which has tracked American eating trends since 1980.