What Are You Really Getting in Your Organic Milk?

Organic is such a big deal now a days. Now, more then ever consumers are consciously pursuing organic labeled products for protection of their health. It's no wonder why, evidence has shown many food additives and colorings, hormones, and antibiotic use has sprouted many health concerns. Overall buying organic, although a personal choice, really is a worthwhile investment. So it may come as a shock to many consumers when they hear about startling, almost unethical practices to produce organic milk. Here is what newstarget.com had to say on April 2, 2007

"There has been a continuing erosion of organic standards since large corporations started struggling for a share of the market. According to this recent NewsTarget interview with Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association, the standards for organic milk have been particularly compromised.

Horizon Organic, the company that supplies Wal-Mart, has continually ignored federal organic standards -- specifically, a cow's access to pasture.

Their "organic" milk actually comes from factory-style dairy farms where the animals are kept in intensive confinement and have been imported from conventional farms as calves.

In fact, the problem has gotten so out of hand that the Organic Consumers Association has called for a consumer boycott on Horizon and its partner Aurora Organic, its first for an "organic" product."

In a world where people are craving to be the best, and advertising is key, you know you can't always trust the slogans, commercials, or even company description found on the carton itself. Why would Horizon Organic continually do just what their value customers stand against? Can they really get away from it?

Well so far so good, even Kashi has teamed up with Horizon Organic to promote their products. Just look at a box of Kashi brand cereal and you will notice they advertise for Horizon, as a healthy compliment to their cereals.

Organic in terms means "natural" but defined to an even higher level. Its nature itself. Grown with out the pesticides, hormones, additives and other ingredients found in conventional products. Milk, for example is supposed to come from cows true to nature, the way God intended it. So they are supposed to be pasture fed, with plenty of fresh green grass to graze on, making the milk fortified with nutrients only found in proper feeding of cows. Cows were NOT by any means designed to feed on corn, this is not their nature, they were not meant to be packed in stalls with little wiggle room, as this also goes against their nature.

As consumers we all have the choice on what brands and companies we support. Before buying another over priced bottle of Horizon organic, I insist you do proper research making sure you are aware and comfortable with the true practices of many of these companies.

Dr. Mercola released this statement about Horizon Organic and other pasteurized milk companies:

"I've warned you before about the destruction of organic standards, especially since mega-companies like Wal-Mart and Dean Foods (the parent company of Horizon Organic) have jumped on the organic milk band wagon. Evidently, the deception regarding organic milk is even worse than you probably ever imagined.

All of the milk from Aurora Organics and most from Horizon is produced by cows that came from factory dairy feedlots and existed on disgusting diets of genetically modifiedgrains,slaughterhouse waste and chicken manure.

The only good news here is that all the attention paid to this organic problem by news outlets and Web sites like mine is forcing the USDA to act. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean you should be drinking organic milk anyway, considering it's pasteurizedjust like all the other conventional varieties of milk found at your corner grocery store.

The real issue is not organic versus non-organic milk, it is raw versus pasteurized.

Secondary issues would be the food source that is given to the cow. Ideally, they should be fed exclusively on grass. When you start giving cows grains, even organic ones, their milk will have lower levels of important nutrients such as conjugated linoleic acid.

Your best bet for your good health is to find a local source for raw milk, which I believe is one of the best foods for most people. If you find this statement unusual then please read my article on the reasons why raw milk is becoming more popular."

For those of you who many still be unsure about raw milk, or even those who want to find out where to purchase raw milk, I insist you visit www.realmilk.com where you will find a wealth of information. In the end, if you are a health conscience person who has committed to a healthy lifestyle, you must look behind marketing practices to find the real truth in every situation. Just as you may laugh at the persona who believes 7 ups new campaign to be all natural, showing people pick it from the garden as if soda was a vegetable, you may learn that the deceptive marketing practices of organic milk have also been tainted and unreal.