Hello,

We ran across your website and really liked it. Thank you for the good information. We'll come back often.

Thanks again,

BsaB Candles

I was astounded at the inaccuracies contained in the 10/13/08 article by Karen Springen “Best Organics for the Buck”. Citing no less a scientific authority than Don Imus’ wife and other anti-farm activists, the article is replete with absurdities. The article justifies encouraging consumers to buy organic milk with the ridiculous and misleading claim that “there are so many hormones and antibiotics [in many brands of conventional milk]”.

The facts are clear and not subject to emotional musings. First, regarding hormones, lacteal secretions (milk) from all mammals—whether from a cow, a goat, a dolphin, a zebra, or from a human mother’s breast—contains hormones that are necessary for good health. All milk, regardless of whether the milk is produced organically or conventionally, contains hormones. All milk. That’s one of the reasons milk is so good for you.

With regard to the claim that any milk sold in the U.S. would have antibiotics, again we must deal with the facts. The only way that any antibiotic, which has been used to humanely treat an animal’s infection, can find its way into the food supply is if a criminal purposefully adulterates the product. Milk produced in our country is doubtless the most tested food product in America. Our milk is tested at the farm when it is picked up, and at the milk plant when it is received, and again throughout the process of bottling or manufacturing into cheese, butter, ice cream or any of the other products using milk. If any traces of antibiotics or any other adulterant are found in our milk supply, the product is destroyed.

All of this information, as well as data rebutting the other gross inaccuracies in the article, could have been easily discovered through a casual internet search, a phone call, or by routine fact checking.

Mr. Editor, please do your job.

Michael L. H. Marsh, CPA

Chief Executive Officer

Western United Dairymen

I was appalled to see "environmental activist" Deidre Imus' statement that "there are so many hormones and antibiotics (in many brands of conventional milk)" presented as fact in this article. Misleading and inaccurate statements such as this, in a publication such as Newsweek, do a great disservice to consumers faced with feeding their families in increasingly difficult economic times.  All milk, whether conventionally or organically produced, is pesticide and antibiotic-free, and is a healthy and nutritious food. A study published in July in the prestigious Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA) which tested conventionally produced milk, rBST-free milk and organically produced milk over a three week period on samples of milk from the 48 contiguous states concluded that THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MILK LABELED rBST FREE OR ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL MILK IS THE PRICE - with milk labeled organic or rBST free selling from $1 to $4 per gallon higher.  Consumers concerned with providing their families with the safest and healthiest foods should not be subjected to the fear mongering often used to promote such products and misled to think they must pay extra for a dietary staple such as milk in a national publication such as yours.