DuPont Nutrition & Health has announced they are getting rid of rBST ingredients in their dairy culture line. The company said the move was in response to consumer preference.
“As transparency becomes the norm, dairy producers can have the confidence in DuPont sourcing for all ingredients used to make cultures,” said Jeff Lambeseder, regional product manager/Cultures. “Requests for rBST-free have increased, so we set our sights on all of the necessary certified dairy sources and were able to accomplish this next milestone in our cultures offerings.”
In their announcement, DuPont Nutrition & Health said consumers are becoming more demanding regarding ingredients and the company’s decision is in part to a broader trend toward clean label food and less artificial ingredients. While rBST-free had been widely available in Europe, the company has now made this possible for North America through local options.
“We have been working diligently on local dairy sources,” said Lambeseder. “Making sure all the proper documentation and certification was in place has taken a while, but we can now give our customers the assurance they desire.”
Last summer a federal court in Wisconsin granted Elanco’s motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction against international dairy conglomerate Arla Foods’ ad campaign, which made false and misleading claims about recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST).
In that case, the judge noted that the FDA recently reaffirmed its scientific determination that milk from rBST-treated cows is safe, and that there is no significant difference between milk from cows treated with rBST and untreated cows. “Suggesting otherwise only serves to disseminate misinformation to the public,” the court wrote in its decision
For more than 20 years, rBST has been used to help cows increase milk production without changing the safety and quality of the dairy products we consume. As one of the most researched animal products ever to be approved by the FDA, dairy products made with milk from rBST-treated cows, have been deemed safe by scientific authorities and regulators in more than 50 countries across the globe, including the World Health Organization.
