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State Senate favors bill that restricts dairy label claims April 2, 2009By Chris Green Harris News Service TOPEKA - A bill requiring a disclaimer when certain claims are made on dairy labels took a step closer Thursday to clearing the Legislature. The Kansas Senate voted 22-15 in favor of the requirement for dairy products marketed as coming from cows that don't receive injections of artificial bovine growth hormone. Packaging for products would have to include a disclaimer that cites a Food and Drug Administration ruling. It says there are no significant differences between milk from cows supplemented by the hormone, known as rbST or rBGH, and milk from those that are not. The bill, which contains several other agricultural-related measures, still faces a final vote today in the House, which passed much stronger restrictions on a 75-49 vote last month. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Mark Taddiken, R-Clifton, said the bill was being pushed by dairy farmers who support allowing the use of the artificial growth hormone, which helps stimulate milk production. He said those farmers believe that high-end dairy products touting the lack of hormones being used in their products are misleading because all milk contains natural levels of bovine growth hormone. The new labeling limits under the measure would not apply to products certified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, spoke in opposition to the bill's labeling provisions, saying she's heard a number of objections to the requirements. "It is not sensible to pass measures that may restrict information for consumers who want to purchase, and in fact are willing to pay extra, to know that the cows producing milk for specific products have not been injected with rbST," Francisco said. She also said that bill's requirement of a disclaimer with a similar font, style, case, size and color would likely force out-of-state companies with popular products, including Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream of Vermont, to redesign their packaging. Francisco said that a representative of the ice cream maker told her that his company might have to spend $200,000 to relabel its product line for Kansas. State Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell, said he believed that the issue boiled down to some dairy producers using misleading labels to charge a premium price for their milk. He said that the labeling requirements would level the playing field in an industry presently being hit with economic difficulties. "Right now, we're struggling with dairies," Ostmeyer said. For the original article, click here. |
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