Lack of Information on Labels Alarming

Editor:

I have been reading with interest the articles on absence labeling and rbST. While I feel a flash of anger when I pick up a pack of chicken with a “no hormones added” label (the USDA doesn’t allow hormones in chicken), I want to know if the milk that I’m giving my children comes from a cow that was given rbST.

I grew up in Lancaster County, and my father supported us by working with dairy cattle. I have an enormous amount of respect for farmers and am aware that I know precious little about appropriate herd management practices. Farmers want the best for their animals and their communities, and they make their choices from that platform. I’m in no position to say that milk from a herd that was not given rbST is better than milk from a herd that was, but I want to know which is which.

The arguments that say “rbST has been tested, we know it’s safe, and absence labeling will frighten the public” feels a lot like “Honey don’t worry you pretty little head about that.” We’ve tested things before, trusted them before, and been wrong. You don’t have to look far to find the examples — thalidomide and DDT are just a few. I’m not saying rbST used as a herd management tool is the same as spraying with DDT, but I want to know. I want to make the choice for my family.

There is a labeling problem that I find much more alarming. It is the absence of labeling on the food that I buy at the grocery store. I went to buy diced pears for my baby recently. I turned over the package to make sure the pears didn’t have additional sugar, and there stamped above the ingredients were the words “Packaged in Thailand.” I was stunned. I’m a diligent label reader and fairly savvy consumer and it didn’t occur to me that my food was coming from so far away. Curious, I kept checking packages as I shopped. I found mushrooms and juice concentrate processed in China and some things from the USA. For the most, however, there was no country of origin label, simply the words “marketed by.” It is easier to find out where the clothes I put on my children’s backs come from than it is to find out about the food that they put in their mouths.

We have the right to know the provenance of our food, and an obligation to vote with our dollars. I am not the only consumer who will pay more for a product that is grown, processed, and packaged in the USA. A small “grown in the USA” label could be the best marketing tool a farmer has if his pears sit next to the ones grown in China. For most consumers that isn’t a difficult choice.
— Jennifer Merritt
Moneta, Va.