Stonyfield Farm: Being Yo-Late is Better Than Yo-Never

LONDONDERRY, N.H., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- It's been a lonely few years for Gary Hirshberg in the rBST-free pasture. But 15 years after his Stonyfield Farm became the first dairy product maker to pay farmers not to use artificial bovine growth hormone, the field is getting crowded -- and he couldn't be more pleased.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090206/NE68046 )

"With Yoplait set to announce plans to only use milk from cows not treated with artificial bovine growth hormone, it's an honor to welcome them into the no-rBGH club," says the Stonyfield CE-Yo. "Better Yo-Late than Yo-Never."

Yoplait's pending announcement is welcome news to organic industry leaders like Stonyfield, Organic Valley and others. In 1993, Stonyfield was the first dairy in the US to secure agreements with milk suppliers not to use artificial hormones like rBGH soon after it was introduced by the chemical giant Monsanto and approved for use by the FDA.

Today, Stonyfield is the third best-selling yogurt brand in the US, and the best-selling organic brand.

"We're happy to welcome a new member to a club we started 15 years ago to ensure both animal health and the economic prosperity of family farmers. It was lonely out there when we first started talking about this on our yogurt lids and in our ads. Nothing makes us happier than to know that consumers are demanding that companies make products with milk from cows not treated with rBGH/rBST. "

The Consumer Reports National Research Center polled over 1,000 people nationwide on various food labeling issues and found 93% of consumers agree dairies that products without artificial growth hormones should be allowed to label their products as being made without these hormones.

"In all my travels, I've yet to meet a consumer who says they want that milk with the double-dose of artificial hormones," says Hirshberg. "This decision by Yoplait only further validates the decision we made more than a decade and a half ago."

The United States is in the minority among industrialized nations by allowing the use of synthetic growth hormones to artificially stimulate milk production in dairy herds. The practice is prohibited in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and in the 27 countries of the European Union.