Congress Continues to Serve Bad Milk to Kids

Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter


Washington, D.C. – “Consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch is disappointed that Congress will not be able to re-write the 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act so that schoolchildren will have access to safe and wholesome milk before it expires on September 30. The Congress will pass an extension for the 2004 Act – a law that includes the nutritional requirements for students who participate in the National School Lunch Program – without providing an option for schoolchildren to have access to artificial hormone-free milk. The failure of Congress to act in time leaves children susceptible to the dangers associated with drinking milk produced with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH).


“Approved in 1994 by the Food and Drug Administration, rBGH is injected into cows to make them produce more milk. Besides the documented increase of infections in dairy cows injected with the hormone, which necessitates increased use of antibiotics, rBGH has also been linked to cancer in humans. Based on the number of dairies that use rBGH in the United States, it is possible that at least 84 million gallons of milk from rBGH-treated cows were distributed through school nutrition programs in fiscal year 2005-2006.

“Food & Water Watch has been working with parents, consumers, farmers, health professionals and teachers to ensure that schools have the option to purchase milk that is free of artificial hormones. Our organization anticipates that more school districts throughout the country will resolve to provide rBGH-free milk once language is included in the Child Nutrition Act that clarifies schools have the option to request it.

“Our nation’s schools are becoming a dumping ground for milk that Americans are increasingly avoiding. The most vulnerable members of our society, our children, deserve to have food that does not cause them harm. “We urge Congress to change the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act to include language that allows for schools to have the option of purchasing milk from cows that are not injected with rBGH.”

Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization based in Washington, D.C., works to ensure clean water and safe food in the United States and around the world. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink. For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.




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