Today organic milk is occupying significant share in dairy bussiness and this share continue to growth with large velocity.

The main question: What are the reasons that push people to spend more money. May be it’s health or environmental benefits. But researches does not show significant advantages of organic milk.

Nevertheless demand for organic milk is bigger than supply and as a result gallon of organic milk costs approximately two times more than gallon of regular milk.

Current situation and future prospects assist dairy companies to look for loopholes in the rules to convert regular products into organic. Fortunately, watching groups of consumers don’t sleep and try to have an influence on dairy companies. One of these watching groups, the Cornucopia Institute sent a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture with request to investigate the infringement of rules connecting with organic production in such dairy companies as Horizon and Aurora. The representatives of Cornucopia Institute demands to annul a certifications of Horizon and Aurora because of nomerous violations of standards.

Let’s try to ununderstand what exectly means term “organic milk”.

There are four requirements of the USDA that can identify milk as organic, but every requirement creates a lot of confusions.

The requirements are next:

Milk must be without  bovine growth hormone (BGH). Sometimes farmers add this hormone in feed to increase production of milk. Some people think that BGH assists cancer development, but in fact it’s just a protein hormone and in case penetration in our body it will be destroyed in digestive tract by enzymes and acid.

Second requirement is that farmers don’t use any antibiotics to treat cows, which  produce organic milk. In case if it is nessesary to use antibiotics, cow must be isolated from herd for a 12 months.

Next requirement is that cows must eat only organic feed without pesticides. It can be fresh grass or grain. Of cource organic feed may contain sustainable farming practices within the normal established range, that don’t affect the nutrition of organic milk.

Last requirement for organic milk is that organic farms must have adequate space for graze, called “access to pasture”.

The main subject of much controversy is a term “access to pasture”. It’s very unclear term that can give loophole to confine a time of pasture, so in that way cows eat not fresh grass but still produce so-called organic milk.

After all saying I think milk is an important product for us but there are other healthful foods we need pay attention, for example, fruits, vegetables and fish.

Hope this information will be usefull for you.