Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports and Consumerist, has sent a long letter to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius regarding Kansas House Bill 2121. Twenty-nine groups involved in agricultural and food production added their signatures to a copy and sent it as well.
determined there are no significant differences between milk from cows
that receive injections of the artificial hormone and milk from those
that do not."
The letters say it is imperative that Sebelius veto the bill. Some highlights:
We feel that HB 2121 puts unnecessary obstacles in the way of consumersAn impressive list, but Consumers Union is just getting warmed up.getting the information they want, restricts free speech rights of
dairies and processors, and interferes with the smooth functioning of
free markets.
...The American Nurses Association, Center For Food Safety, Food and WaterWatch, National Family Farm Coalition, Humane Society of the U.S. and
many other organizations have all officially opposed the use of rbGH.
Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports), has said that FDA
should suspend approval of rbGH until new evidence (since approval in
1994) related to human safety can be evaluated.
Any state that requires a specific statement on a label hasan obligation to ensure that statement is true. It is obvious from a
significant body of science and the positions of numerous respected
organizations that there are serious questions whether this statement
is true ... Also, companies that sell products nationally, such as Ben
&
Jerry's ice cream or Tillamook cheese, would either have to not market
products in Kansas or change labels on all their products to comply
with the regulation.
...HR 2121 will mandate misleading label language and negatively impact
Kansan consumers' ability to make informed decisions about the dairy
products they buy. It interferes with farmers and dairies' rights to
free speech. In this era of increased concern about what's in our food
and how it is produced, Kansas should be making more information
available, not less.
I edited out 90 percent of the letters (which can be found in full here) but left in the main points: Science is unclear about hormone-treated milk, disclaimers are bad for business, there are no good arguments to pass this bill.
The 29 groups, representing everything from small farms to restaurants to co-ops, have released another joint statement saying "over 160 hospitals all over the country have pledged to serve rbGH-free products" and "more than half of the 100 largest dairy processors in the country have
gone partially or completely rbGH-free to satisfy consumer demand."
Yet there is one person who hasn't released any sort of statement on the issue: Sebelius. How she will vote is unknown.
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