Wichita Food Co-op local growers of organic produce and livestock

Harris News Service
By Chris Green

TOPEKA -- Opponents of a new milk labeling rule being considered by the state Department of Agriculture have flooded the agency with hundreds of messages.

Agriculture Department spokeswoman Lisa Taylor said that groups of the e-mails appear identical in content, apparently the product of organized campaigns by groups, including the Sierra Club, to block the rule.

Critics of a measure that would limit the claims that can be made on the labels of dairy products have submitted more than 680 e-mails against the restriction.

One set of identical e-mails numbers 487, Taylor said, while two other sets total 80 and 46. About 68 of the e-mails in opposition are not identical. She said the department has also received seven non-identical e-mails in support of the proposed change, whose fate now rests in the hands of Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polanksy.

During a hearing that ended the public comment period Tuesday in the department's Topeka office, 24 people spoke out on the issue, with opponents outnumbering supporters by about 2-to-1.

"There was more interest in this proposed regulation than what we have experienced with other regulations," Taylor said. "We always encourage concerned parties to share their views any time we promulgate regulations, and today's hearing is a good example of how the process works."

Agriculture department officials suggest barring dairy labels from claiming a product is free of hormones, citing a 1951 law that prohibits misleading milk labeling.

Officials with agency said that all milk contains bovine growth hormone because cows produce it naturally.

Milk producers could still claim on labels that their milk doesn't come from cows who receive injections of artificial bovine growth hormone, also known as rbST or rbGH, which stimulates milk production.

But dairy operators would have to verify the claim by securing an affidavit from the milk producer that its cows are not supplemented by rbST and other written records to support the claim.

Their milk labels would be required to detail the Food and Drug Administration's finding that there's no significant different between milk derived from cows who receive rbST and those who don't.

Earlier this year, Ohio implemented a similar rule which is being challenged in the state's federal court system, according to Cindy Kalis, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Two dairy industry trade groups are fighting the regulation.

Opponents of the change Kansas claim the limits deny consumers' freedom of choice and could financially hurt small farmers and organic food stores during tougher economic times.

But supporters, including leaders of the Kansas Dairy Association, say the changes ensures fairness and accuracy in labeling claims.

"All Kansas dairy producers produce a clean, safe, wholesome product," said James Reed, a Jewell County dairy farmer. "Some of the labels being used in the market today mislead customers."

But an opponent of the new rule, Dan Nagengast, executive director of the Kansas Rural Center, suggested that the Agriculture Department should slow down.

He said the state should consider the potential costs of litigation that could result from implementing the new rule and wait to see whether Ohio's regulation survives the legal challenge before proceeding.

Taylor said there is no specific timeframe for Polanksy to decide on whether to actually implement the rule.

She also said that during her nine-year tenure with the agency, proposed rules reaching the public comment process have generally been adopted or sent back for further study and revision. Taylor said she has yet to see a case when a proposed rule put up for public debate has been scrapped entirely.

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