2009 Press Releases
Consumers ask Ohio Governor to repeal emergency rule on dairy labeling
Contact: Barbara Haumann (413-376-1220)
Consumers and organic farmers want truthful messages about the avoidance of synthetic hormones
GREENFIELD, Mass. (July 16, 2009)—Thousands of consumers in Ohio are urging their governor to repeal an emergency rule that takes away their rights to receive truthful information on dairy labels concerning the practices used to produce those products.
The February 2008 emergency rule enacted by the Ohio Department of Agriculture would require labels to include a disclaimer for dairy products produced from cows not treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is currently appealing a court decision that denied its motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the rule. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has postponed enforcement of the emergency rule until resolution of this appeal.
On July 23, OTA and the International Dairy Foods Association are scheduled to enter into mediation with the Ohio Department of Agriculture on the issue. This past Monday, an alliance of consumer, farmer, environmental, ethical investor, and food safety groups urged Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to repeal the emergency rule before the mediation gets underway.
“Rather than continue to defend this rule in litigation, we urge the Governor to rethink the wisdom of spending state resources to support a rule that interferes with Ohioans’ ability to make an informed decision about the dairy products they buy, with farmers’ and dairies’ rights to free speech, and with consumer right-to-know. In this era of increased concern over how our food is produced, Ohio should be making more information available, not less,” said Carol Goland, Executive Director of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association.
A recent Consumers Union poll found that 93 percent of consumers want labeling of products as rBGH-free.
“OTA believes consumers have a right to know how their food was produced, and organic farmers and manufacturers should be allowed to tell them,” said Christine Bushway, executive director of OTA, the leading voice for the $24.6 billion organic industry in North America.
In order to qualify for the organic label, organic farmers are prohibited from using synthetic growth hormones, genetically engineered organisms, antibiotics and toxic, persistent, synthetic pesticides. The standards also mandate a rigorous system for inspection, certification and verification of organic practices, all of which protect consumers who choose organic products.
In April, similar legislation to Ohio’s was vetoed in Kansas by then Governor Kathleen Sebelius, now Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sebelius vetoed the bill because such dairy labeling would make it more difficult to provide consumers with clear information and negatively impact dairy producers’ ability to inform consumers of production practices they use.
Founded nearly 25 years ago, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America. Its members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA's mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy (www.ota.com).
